Spain regards Vietnam as an important partner in Asia-Pacific, King of Spain Felipe VI told visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at a meeting in Madrid on May 23.

The King welcomed the Vietnamese Deputy PM’s visit from May 23-25 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

He stressed that the establishment of the Spain-Vietnam strategic partnership towards the future during the visit to Spain by the then President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2009 marked an important milestone in bilateral ties, helping enhance mutual political trust and create a comprehensive and specific framework to boost the multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

King Felipe expressed his belief that the bilateral cooperation in politics, economics, culture, education-training, and security-defence will grow rapidly in the coming time.

Spain supports Vietnam to increase its role and position in the regional and beyond, he affirmed.

Deputy PM Minh highly valued the regular meetings and mutual support of the two countries at international multilateral forums.

The annual increase of 15-20 percent in two-way trade in recent years indicates the huge potential of Vietnam-Spain cooperation, he noted.

Vietnam is willing to create favourable conditions for foreign businesses, including those from Spain, to make investment in Vietnam, he said.

The host and guest expressed their satisfaction at the bilateral collaboration in culture and education.

They shared the view that the organization of “Vietnam Days in Spain” with various cultural and art activities and trade-investment promotion programmes will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples and forging connectivity among businesses.

The Vietnamese Deputy PM took this occasion to convey an invitation to visit Vietnam from President Tran Dai Quang to King Felipe.

VNA