VietNamNet Bridge – European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and his spouse will pay the first official visit to Viet Nam from October 31 to November 2.  

The visit is made at the invitation of Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang.

This is the first official visit of a European Council President to Viet Nam since the two sides set up diplomatic ties in 1990.

Via the visit, the European Council President hopes to cement and deepen the comprehensive ties with Viet Nam; seek ways to beef up the bilateral ties beyond the PCA framework and exchange measures to strengthen relations at regional and international forums.  

The relations between Viet Nam and the EU have advanced positively and comprehensively.

Especially, the two sides signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and began negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in June 2012. These are significant progress, which forges a solid foundation for robust and practical developments between two sides in the coming time.

So far, the EU is the leading partner of Viet Nam in numerous fields. Two-way trade turnover increased from US$17.75 billion in 2010 to US$24.29 billion in 2011. Trade volume hit US$15.47 billion in the first seven months of 2012, seeing a year-on-year increase of 20.39%.

The EC together with EU member states are the second largest ODA provider for Viet Nam with total ODA commitment of over US$13 billion in the 1996-2013 period.

VietNamNet/VGP