HANOI, Vietnam – FM Dendias meets with his Vietnamese counterpart in Hanoi. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Monday expressed Greece’s volition to broaden and extend its relations with Vietnam in statements during his visit in Hanoi.

He underlined that Vietnam, a country with 100 million population with an emerging, of approximately 400 billion, economy, is an interesting interlocutor for Greece in the region of Southeastern Asia.

Referring to his meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son, Dendias pointed out that they agreed that their countries should have close talks on the Law of the Sea and to understand one another’s positions and work together for the development of the Law of the Sea and its implementation throughout the world.

The two ministers also discussed the bilateral relations, the economic relations as well as a series of cooperations at educational and sports level.

Asked on the crisis in Kosovo, he said that the stability and the security in the wider region is something that is of great interest for the Greek diplomacy.

During his visit to Hanoi, Dendias will be received by the President of Vietnam Ngyem Xuan Phuc as well as by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Greek Foreign Ministry said.

Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic Academies of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries is scheduled to be signed.

In addition, Dendias will present the Vietnamese National Olympic Committee with financial aid from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a special ceremony. The aid will be handed over to the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports & Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong, with whom Dendias will also hold a meeting to discuss bilateral cooperation. During his stay in Hanoi, the Greek minister will also lay a wreath at Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum).

The Greek minister’s visit to Hanoi follows that of Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan to Athens (November 2021) and of President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou to Hanoi in May.

Dendias will then travel to Cambodia for the 55th ASEAN. On August 3, the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) will be signed. Representatives from Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Netherlands, and Oman are also expected be signing the Instrument of Accession.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN proceedings, the Greek FM is scheduled to hold meetings with a number of his counterparts from ASEAN member states: Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand Don Pramudwinai, as well as with the Foreign Ministers of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan and Cambodia Prak Sokhonn (August 2).

Lastly, the following day (August 3), Dendias is expected to meet with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and Foreign Ministers of India and the Philippines S. Jaishankar and Enrique Manalo, respectively.

FM Dendias received by President of Vietnam Ngyen Xuan Phuc

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was received on Monday by Vietnam’s President Ngyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi following President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou’s visit in May 2022 and Vietnam’s Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan in Athens in November 2021. A fruitful discussion with focus on the strengthening of the the bilateral relations in all areas, the Foreign Ministry posted on Monday on Twitter.

FM Dendias meets with Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met on Monday with the Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi in the context of his official visit to Vietnam.

The constructive talks focused on Greece-Vietnam’s economic relations, the EU-Vietnam cooperation and on the shared commitment to the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Greek Foreign Ministry posted on Twitter.