A useful meeting of H.E. Mr. Pham Quoc Bao with the team of Bulgarian Diplomatic Review

H.E. Mr. Pham Quoc Bao, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, invited the team of Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine at a meeting. In the friendly atmosphere of a cozy restaurant in Sofia, the two parties exchanged some thoughts about the future cooperation between Bulgaria and Vietnam during 2006, which according to the Vietnamese calendar, marks the beginning of spring.

Ambassador Pham Quoc Bao shared his impressions of Bulgaria's beautiful nature which, according to him, offers excellent preconditions for development of tourism – a field, in which there are broad opportunities for cooperation between the two countries. This year, Vietnam expects 20.9 million foreign tourists.

Tourism is not the only sphere, in which the cooperation between the Bulgarian and Vietnamese producers and consumers can be of mutual benefit. Some far-seeing Bulgarian business people have already shown commercial interest in Vietnam, outpacing by far the state's political moves in this direction.

Vietnam is the second largest cashew exporter in the world and among the leading exporters of rice. Its seafood is sold in one hundred and five countries and territories. Vietnam is ranked third on the list of countries with fast-developing Internet network; its software industry measures an annual growth of twenty-five to forty percent and the total profit is expected to reach US $1.2 billion in 2010. The largest project for production of stainless steel in Vietnam was launched not long ago, and there is also a project for the construction of the country's first 2000-megawatt nuclear power plant.

The foreign investments in Vietnam for 2005 reached a record-high rate. The country's major social-economic indexes for 2006 – an eight-percent growth in the GDP and a 3.8 percent growth in agriculture, forestry and fishery, along with a 10.2 percent growth of industry and construction and an eight percent growth in the service sector – are a clear example of Vietnam's achievements in 2005.

H.E. Mr. Pham Quoc Bao said he had always received from the Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine very useful information about Bulgaria, detailed covering and analysis of the political and social events in the country and a good review of all major activities of the diplomatic corps. In reply, Juliana Tomova, Editor-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine, said this had been the main strategy of the magazine since its establishment five years ago and thanked him for his high appreciation of the work of the magazine's team.

In the course of this friendly conversation it was mentioned that in pursue of a major goal – Bulgaria's accession to the EU in 2007, the Bulgarian media not always succeed in covering events, which are not related to this topic, and they should know that the world is far bigger than that.

The meeting ended with a wish for good and fruitful cooperation between the team of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Review magazine and the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the future, because such a cooperation would contribute to the development of the economic and cultural relations between the two countries.