Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz arrived at the Presidential Palace of Vietnam, accompanying President Michelle Bachelet, who is on a state visit to the country.
After the meeting of the governor and her delegation with the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang, the minister took part in the signing of three cooperation agreements between the two countries.
After this ceremony, the Chancellor declared: "The relationship between Chile and Vietnam has been deepening over the years, since we signed the Free Trade Agreement that entered into force in 2014, bilateral trade has multiplied by 30% annually and we have reached a figure of close to one billion dollars, which is a significant exchange for both parties".
In addition to this, the Minister explained that the agreements signed consist of a cooperation on the part of Chile towards young people and children affected by chemical weapons by the so-called Agent Orange. Furthermore, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Chilean and Vietnamese Diplomatic Academies and an initiative that will allow relatives of diplomatic or consular officials to work in their respective countries. "With the signing of these agreements, we have cemented the historic friendship between the two countries", concluded the chancellor.
In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs added that both countries agreed to present the APEC Summit leaders with the need to promote marine protected areas as a way to combat climate change, in addition to other reasons, an issue on which Chile has taken the lead and where Vietnam has already shown a lot of interest.
At the end of this ceremony, Minister Muñoz accompanied the President to her meetings with the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, the President of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc.