Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son meets Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg in Hanoi, April 17, 2023. (Photo: VNA)

Minister Son asked Austria to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and urge the European Commission to remove its yellow card against Vietnam’s fisheries.

Minister Schallenberg praised Vietnam’s increasingly important role and status in the world and said that Austria wants to strengthen ties with Vietnam, one of its leading partners in Southeast Asia.  He called for greater cooperation in green technology, transport, healthcare and infrastructure.

The two sides agreed to promote people-to-people exchanges and mutual support at international forums. They shared the importance of maintaining security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), and settling disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.