Bulgaria is successfully advancing on the path of transforming its economy from raw material processing to the production of high value-added products. Vietnam is following this model, which is a prerequisite for cooperation between the two countries in a number of sectors of mutual interest. This is what President Rumen Radev said at the opening of a Vietnamese-Bulgarian business forum, which took place in Ho Chi Minh City today as part of the Head of State's official visit to Vietnam. During the forum, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Haskovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Association of Entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

The event was organised in cooperation with the People's Committee of the city, which is the largest industrial and financial centre in Vietnam. 185 Vietnamese companies were registered to participate. Representatives of Bulgarian businesses, who are accompanying the President on his visit, took part in the forum. They are from the fields of information and high technology, information storage, the automotive sector, defence, engineering, food industry and others.

Radev told the business representatives that Bulgaria and Vietnam should not only aim to increase trade, but also to partner in joint research and production to be implemented in third markets. There is a strong political will on both sides to develop our cooperation, the Head of State said, noting the talks he has held with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party Tho Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, as well as today's meeting with Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

The President outlined a number of promising areas, including transport and logistics given the strategic geographical location of Bulgaria and Vietnam. Rumen Radev pointed to the experience and qualified specialists in Bulgaria in information technology and information storage, as well as in electronics. In recent years, many investments have been made in robotics and mechatronics in Bulgaria to promote the development of many sectors of the economy, the President said. He added that Bulgaria is expanding its industrial zones in different parts of the country, which offer a number of advantages for investors. The pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries and defence also offer opportunities for joint partnerships.

Bulgaria and Vietnam are not only partners, but are also linked by a long-standing friendship, built over the years of the Vietnamese people's struggle for freedom and in the process of building the country, Rumen Radev said at a meeting with representatives of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Friendship Association in Ho Chi Minh City. The Head of State stressed that the biggest investment in the relations between the two countries are the more than 30,000 Vietnamese nationals who have received professional specialisation or completed their higher education in Bulgaria. The President reiterated that after a 40-year lull, the training of Vietnamese cadets in our country is being resumed and Bulgaria is ready to welcome the first five who will be trained as military pilots.

The representatives of the association presented during the talks their activities in support of the development of friendly relations between Bulgaria and Vietnam. They raised the issue of facilitating the process of issuing Bulgarian visas for students from Vietnam, which will increase the educational exchange between the two countries, as well as for people who have worked and studied in Bulgaria. Representatives of the association today are heads of economic organisations, who also expressed their desire for even more active economic and trade exchange between Bulgaria and Vietnam.

Earlier in the day, President Rumen Radev held a meeting with Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, at the Independence Palace. In the presence of Rumen Radev and Nguyen Van Nen, letters of cooperation were exchanged between Sofia and Ho Chi Minh City.