At the meeting between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (third, left) and Polish President Andrzej Duda (third, right) at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. (Photo: VNA)
President Duda spoke highly of the official visit of PM Chinh and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese Government as the two countries are celebrating the 75th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations (1950-2025). He believed that the visit to Poland by a Vietnamese PM after many years will create a turning point to further promote the Poland - Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership. The President highly evaluated Vietnam's role in the Asia-Pacific region.
President Duda recalled good memories of his visit to Vietnam in 2017 and his meeting with PM Chinh on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China, in June 2024. He was delighted with the positive development in relations between the two countries in recent times, affirming that Poland always considers Vietnam as its most important partner in Southeast Asia and wants to develop cooperative ties with Vietnam in all fields.
PM Chinh congratulated Poland on its impressive achievements in the process of socio-economic development and European integration, contributing to enhancing Poland's role and position in the region, and highly appreciated President Duda's contributions to Poland.
He respectfully conveyed the regards of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam, State President Luong Cuong, and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man to President Duda.
The PM thanked the Polish leaders and people for their sincere and respectful welcome to the Vietnamese delegation and announced the results of the very successful talks with PM Donald Tusk. He emphasised that the Vietnamese people always remember the valuable support and assistance the Polish people gave to Vietnam in the past struggle for national independence and reunification as well as in the current process of socio-economic development and international integration.
PM Chinh affirmed that although time has changed, the friendship between the two peoples will never change. He affirmed that in implementing the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations, Vietnam always treasures and wants to strengthen relations with traditional friends in the Central and Eastern European region, of which Poland is one of the top priority partners.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda. (Photo: VNA)
At the meeting, the two leaders expressed their joy about the positive development in Vietnam-Poland relations in many fields so that the relationship between the two countries is more intensive, extensive, comprehensive, and inclusive. The two countries have maintained delegation exchanges at all levels across all Party, State, Government, and Parliament channels and people-to-people diplomacy.
Economy and trade have become an important highlight in bilateral cooperation. Two-way trade turnover reached over 2.5 billion USD annually since 2020, and hit over 3 billion USD in 2024, making Poland the largest trading partner of Vietnam in Central and Eastern Europe.
Cooperation in the fields of education - training, culture - tourism, and agriculture has continued to make important progress. The Polish President highly appreciated Vietnam's decision to waive visas for Polish citizens in 2025 and believed that this move will create a driving force to promote tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
Discussing orientations and important measures to develop the bilateral relations in a deeper and more effective manner, the two leaders agreed to continue increasing meetings and exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, to enhance political trust and mutual understanding, as a foundation to soon elevate Vietnam - Poland relations to a strategic level.
Regarding economic and trade ties, the two sides agreed to continue fully and effectively implementing the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), creating favourable conditions for each other's goods to enter each side's market. They consented to encourage Polish businesses to promote investment in Vietnam in areas where Poland has strengths such as digital transformation, pharmaceuticals, food industry, manufacturing and processing industry, mineral exploitation and processing. President Duda affirmed his support for early ratification of the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
President Duda proposed the two sides coordinate closely to implement the agreements reached during PM Chinh’s ongoing visit, making the most of the existing potential and advantages to further step up cooperation between the two countries in key areas, while focusing on promoting the tradition of cooperation in the fields of education - training, culture and people-to-people exchanges of the two countries.
President Duda highly appreciated the Vietnamese community’s contributions to Poland. Meanwhile, PM Chinh expressed his gratitude for the support of Polish authorities at all levels for the Vietnamese community in Poland recently and hoped that the community will soon be recognised as an ethnic minority group of Poland to continue deeply integrating into the country, contributing more effectively to the socio-economic development of Poland as well as the good traditional friendship between the two nations.
Both host and guest agreed that the two countries would continue to coordinate closely and support each other at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and the ASEAN - EU cooperation framework, to contribute to peace, cooperation and development in the regions and the world.
* Vietnamese, Polish PMs hold talks, discussing measures to elevate bilateral relations
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk at the joint press conference in Warsaw on January 16. (Photo: VNA)
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed six major groups of measures to elevate relations between Vietnam and Poland during the talks with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Warsaw on January 16.
First, the Vietnamese PM underlined the need to strengthen political trust as a foundation for upgrading the bilateral ties to a Strategic partnership. This includes increasing exchanges at all levels, especially the high level via Party, State, Government, Parliament, and people-to-people channels.
Second, it is necessary to transform economic collaboration into a key pillar of the bilateral relations, aiming to achieve bilateral trade turnover of 5 billion USD. Emphasis should be placed on enhancing both soft and hard connectivity between the two economies, he stated. Third, the two sides should expand cooperation in security and defence, particularly in combating transnational crimes and ensuring cybersecurity.
Fourth, Vietnam and Poland should effectively implement the agreement on higher education cooperation signed during this visit, while advancing labour cooperation, with a focus on training workforces for digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, and semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Fifth, the two countries should enhance people-to-people exchanges and jointly organise activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025, PM Chinh suggested, announcing Vietnam’s decision to grant visa exemptions to Polish citizens in 2025.
Sixth, the two sides should strengthen coordination and mutual support in multilateral forums such as the United Nations and the ASEAN - EU framework, the Vietnamese leader proposed, affirming Vietnam's readiness to act as a bridge between ASEAN and Poland.
PM Chinh hailed the strong growth of Poland as the 20th biggest economy in the world, and congratulated the country on its position as the President of the European Union.
Highlighting the enduring friendship between the two nations, PM Chinh acknowledged Poland’s invaluable support during Vietnam’s past struggle for independence and its ongoing development process.
He noted Poland’s role in training thousands of Vietnamese engineers, doctors, and scientists, as well as the enduring legacy of symbolic projects such as the Vietnam - Poland Friendship Hospital and the Vietnam-Poland High School. Poland was also one of the first European nations to provide critical vaccine and medical equipment to support Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
The PM reaffirmed Vietnam’s commitment to strengthening its traditional friendship with Poland, emphasising Poland’s position as a key partner in Central and Eastern Europe.
At the talks between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk. (Photo: VNA)
For his part, PM Tusk said that PM Chinh is the first foreign leader to visit Poland in 2025. He emphasised the significance of this visit, which marks the beginning of celebrations for the 75th anniversary of Vietnam - Poland diplomatic relations (1950 - 2025). The visit, he noted, will create fresh momentum to deepen and enhance the multifaceted cooperation and friendship between the two nations.
Recalling his official visit to Vietnam in 2010, PM Tusk shared his fond memories and special sentiments toward Vietnam. He reaffirmed that Vietnam remains a cherished and long-standing traditional friend of Poland and one of its most important partners in Southeast Asia.
He agreed to consider upgrading Vietnam - Poland relations to a strategic level, highlighting the strong political trust and the 75-year legacy of their traditional friendship. He underscored Vietnam as one of Poland's most promising markets in the Asia-Pacific region, with increasing interest from Polish businesses to expand investments and operations in Vietnam.
Responding to PM Chinh's proposals, PM Tusk affirmed Poland's commitment to expediting the ratification of the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). He also pledged Poland’s support for the European Commission to lift its yellow card against Vietnam’s seafood exports.
The two sides agreed to push ahead with effectively implementing the cooperation frameworks and agreements signed between their countries.
Vietnam and Poland will step up cooperation in defence - security, trade - investment, science - technology, transport, railway connectivity, pharmaceuticals, education - training, culture - tourism, and people-to-people exchange. Besides, they will expand ties to potential areas such as renewable energy, digital transformation, information technology, labour, and agriculture. They will also serve as gateways for each other’s goods to enter ASEAN and EU markets, according to the leaders.
PM Chinh thanked and asked the Polish Government to continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to further integrate into the local society, and actively contribute to the host country’s development as well as the time-tested bilateral friendship, with the hope that the community will soon be recognised as an ethnic minority group in Poland.
Both PMs affirmed that the two countries will maintain close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums and international organisations, helping ensure peace, security, cooperation, and development in their respective regions and the world at large.
Talking about some regional and international issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue, PM Chinh called on Poland to support ASEAN’s central stance on this matter. Accordingly, disputes and conflicts worldwide should be resolved by peaceful means on the basis of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), thereby helping to maintain peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in regions and the world, for the sake of global cooperation and prosperity.
On this occasion, the two government leaders witnessed the signing of some cooperation documents on diplomatic and labour affairs between their countries.
Source: VNA
