VietNamNet Bridge – Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos Lopez started his three-day visit to Viet Nam yesterday, Nov 24, by signing a political co-operation agreement with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, in Ha Noi.

The two foreign ministries would exchange more senior delegations to increase mutual understanding and work out effective methods of co-operation.

Both foreign ministers agreed that their countries had the potential to work with each other in the fields of agriculture, aqua products, telecommunications and energy.

Viet Nam and Nicaragua established diplomatic ties in 1979 but the relationship was interrupted in the 1990s due to political changes in the central American country.

According to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, bilateral diplomatic relations have seen much development again since 2006 through high-ranking meetings on the sideline of international summits.

* Hanoi to host ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals

Ministers of the 10 ASEAN member countries will meet in Hanoi from December 6-9 to discuss ways of strengthening minerals cooperation.

They will also examine measures to support the industrialization programme of each member country and facilitate trade and investment in minerals within the bloc.

This is the third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals (AMMin).

The first AMMin was held in Malaysia in 2005 and the second in the Philippines in 2008.

* Deputy PM to visit Austria soon

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan will pay an official visit to the Federal Republic of Austria from November 30 to December 3, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on November 24.

The visit aims to further strengthen the friendship and all-round cooperation between Vietnam and Austria, especially in priority areas such as education-training, science-technology, trade and investment.

Vietnam and Austria established diplomatic ties in 1972.

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