Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) and Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz at the joint press conference following their talks in the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria on October 15, 2018. Photo: VGP

ebastian Kurz expressed his belief that it is time for the two countries to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation and more Austrian investors will come to invest in Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Phuc said he had good talks with Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz during which both sides agreed to continue creating favorable conditions for the two sides’ businesses to step up partnership and investment in order to turn Austria into one of Viet Nam’s top economic partner in the European Union.

The two Prime Ministers said they also vowed to beef up cooperation in science and technology, vocational training, and deployment of Austria-funded projects in Viet Nam.

On the occasion, the two leaders witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperative documents on upgrading medical equipment for Cho Ray Hospital, science and technology cooperation, and e-commerce cooperation between the two countries.

The two Prime Ministers witness the signing ceremony of a MoU on e-commerce and industry 4.0 between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and Austrian Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs. Photo: VGP

Austria was one of the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with Viet Nam, in 1972.

The bilateral relationship has been growing across various fields through regular exchanges of high-level visits and contacts and close coordination and support at multilateral forums like the United Nations, ASEM, ASEAN-EU.

Bilateral trade reached over US$4 billion in 2017, up 42% from the previous years.

Austria is the 6^th biggest European importer of Vietnamese products, ranking 43th out of 129 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam with 31 projects worth US$143.9 million./.