Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his entourage arrived in Lisbon in the morning of June 3 for an official visit to Portugal at the invitation of his counterpart Pedro Passos Coelho.

The high-ranking Vietnamese Government delegation was greeted at Figo Manduro Airport by representatives from the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PM Coelho’s advisor in charge of international relations, Vietnam Ambassador to Portugal Nguyen Ngoc Son and Vietnamese Embassy’s staff.

Vietnam and Portugal established diplomatic ties in July 1975. Over the past 40 years, they have held political meetings through embassies and provided mutual support at major international forums.

Despite gradual growth, trade turnover between the two countries reached only US$364 million last year - a modest figure which is not in line with their fine friendship and potential.

This is the first official visit of PM Nguyen Tan Dung to Portugal.

As scheduled, PM Dung will hold talks with Portuguese leaders and attend a business forum to discuss specific measures to elevate economic cooperation for mutual benefit.

The visit will conclude on June 4.