Vietnam Expresses Readiness to Facilitate Greek Business Investment

Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung met with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis at the Government Headquarters on July 17. Prime Minister Le Minh Hung welcomed the visit of Minister George Gerapetritis, expressing his belief that the visit will contribute to further deepening the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Greece and promote the Vietnam-European Union (EU) comprehensive strategic partnership. The Prime Minister congratulated Greece on its socio-economic development achievements and its increasing international standing, especially its role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2025-2026 term. He affirmed that Vietnam always values its relationship with Greece, a traditional partner. Assessing that there is still ample room for development in the relationship between the two countries, the Prime Minister proposed strengthening exchanges of delegations and high-level contacts. He also called for effective utilization of existing cooperation mechanisms and increased cooperation in economy, trade, and investment. Specifically, he urged for effective exploitation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), enhanced business connectivity, and expanded cooperation in areas where Greece has strengths, such as the maritime economy, ports, maritime transport, logistics, shipbuilding, maritime human resource training, renewable energy, and science-technology. Prime Minister Le Minh Hung affirmed that Vietnam is ready to create favorable conditions for Greek businesses to explore the market and invest long-term in Vietnam. Furthermore, he requested Greece to actively advocate for the early ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the remaining EU member states and to support the European Commission in lifting the "yellow card" against Vietnamese seafood. He also proposed completing the legal framework for cooperation, including documents and agreements on maritime transport, labor, and economy. Additionally, he suggested strengthening cooperation in culture, education, heritage preservation, people-to-people exchanges, local connectivity, and researching the opening of direct flights between Vietnam and Greece. On this occasion, the Prime Minister requested Greece to facilitate the Vietnamese community in Greece, enabling them to play a bridging role between the two countries. Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis conveyed greetings from the President and Prime Minister of Greece to Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and extended an invitation to visit Greece. The Minister highly appreciated Vietnam's impressive development achievements, its increasingly important role in ASEAN, and the progress in Vietnam-EU relations. He affirmed that Greece highly values its relationship with Vietnam and is ready to be a bridge to promote relations between Vietnam and the EU. Minister George Gerapetritis expressed Greece's desire to expand cooperation with Vietnam in areas such as trade, investment, maritime affairs, logistics, crew training, agriculture, tourism, and pharmaceuticals. He announced that Greece will send a business delegation to Vietnam to seek cooperation and investment opportunities. He also expressed a desire to promote cooperation in labor, enhance student exchanges, and foster cultural and archaeological collaboration. Furthermore, he affirmed Greece's support for EVIPA, the early lifting of the "yellow card" for IUU fishing, and the EU's early removal of Vietnam from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. Both sides expressed their desire to strengthen coordination and mutual support at the United Nations and multilateral forums, and to promote ASEAN-EU relations. They also reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight, and resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).