After a productive meeting, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and EC Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles enjoyed coffee and explored renowned Vietnamese artworks at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts.
On the afternoon of July 30, following their discussions, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and EC Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles enjoyed coffee and viewed famous Vietnamese artworks at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts.
The Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts houses and displays 20,000 valuable artifacts, sculptures, paintings, and graphic works from ancient to modern times.
EC Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles explored several nationally recognized Vietnamese artworks, including the screen "Young Woman in the Garden" and "Landscape" by Nguyen Gia Tri; the lacquer painting "Uncle Ho in the Viet Bac Resistance Zone" by Duong Bich Lien; and the painting "Little Thuy" by Tran Van Can.
When viewing " Little Thuy," the Museum's Director, Nguyen Anh Minh, remarked that while the world has the famous Mona Lisa, Vietnam has its own "Mona Lisa" in this painting.
After viewing the artworks, under the shade of lush trees in the museum courtyard, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and EC Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles enjoyed iced milk coffee and discussed various cooperation issues.
Joining them were Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao, Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the EU, and EU Ambassador to Vietnam, Julien Guerrier.
During a press conference following their morning meeting, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son expressed gratitude to Josep Borrell Fontelles for representing the EU at the State Funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. This gesture demonstrated the EU's and Fontelles' respect for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnam.
EC Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles expressed his deep condolences to the Vietnamese people for the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, acknowledging his significant contributions to Vietnam's international role and the enhancement of Vietnam-EU relations.
Both sides expressed satisfaction with the positive developments in Vietnam-EU relations, particularly in political-diplomatic, trade-investment, defense-security, development cooperation, justice, and agriculture sectors.
The EU is the largest provider of non-refundable aid and one of Vietnam's leading trade-investment partners. The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), after nearly four years of implementation, has boosted bilateral trade positively.
The EU is currently Vietnam's fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $58.5 billion in 2023 and $24.7 billion in the first half of this year, a 16% increase over the same period in 2023. The EU is the fifth-largest investor in Vietnam, with total cumulative FDI nearing $30 billion. Vietnam is the EU's 16th largest trading partner and the largest in ASEAN.
Regarding future cooperation, both sides agreed to effectively utilize existing cooperation mechanisms to address issues and propose new collaborations. They emphasized the need to enhance cooperation in science and technology, environment, climate change response, human resource training, sustainable development, UN peacekeeping, war aftermath resolution, and crime prevention.