“Vietnam’s recovery from COVID-19 is quite admirable,” Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Meynardo Los Banos Montealegre told Vietnam News Agency in an interview on the occasion of the traditional Lunar New Year 2023.
According to the ambassador, thanks to Vietnamese government’s decisive vaccination campaign, people in Vietnam were able to safely transition and eventually regain their pre-pandemic routine.
“I am also impressed with the vibrant activities of various government agencies in Vietnam. Programmes and projects that were held in abeyance for the past two years were relaunched with much vigour and enthusiasm from government officials and employees and even the participating public,” he said.
Montealegre pointed out that there are many challenges in the international arena including supply chain disruptions, low demand, high cost of energy and fuel, and the threat of resurgence of the COVID-19 virus is still present. All of these factors affected not only Vietnam but also other countries. Hence, while the prospects for economic growth are vast, the current conditions also pose challenges to sustaining economic development, he said.
According to the Ambassador, Vietnam- Philippines economic relations have thrived even at the height of the pandemic, as evidenced by the steady growth of their total bilateral trade, which reached 5.8 billion USD in 2021, and 3.12 billion USD as of June this year.
He said the Philippines hope to work with Vietnam in achieving greater balance in the two-way trade between the two countries.
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