Vietnam-Venezuela diplomatic ties marked in Hanoi

Hanoi, December 17 (VNA) - A friendship meeting was held in Hanoi on December 16 to mark the 25th anniversary of Vietnam-Venezuela diplomatic ties. Addressing the event, Chairman of Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association Vu Van Hien said Vietnam has deep respect for late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who played a great role in strengthening and reinforcing the ties between the two countries. Thanking the Venezuelan people for their support to the Vietnamese people over the past time, he depicted Vietnam as an advocate of Venezuela and its Bolivarian revolution. Venezuelan Ambassador to Vietnam Jorge Rondon Uzcategui stressed that 2014 marked the 50th year since a group of Venezuelan guerillas kidnapped a US officer to ask the US-backed Saigon regime to release young Vietnamese patriot Nguyen Van Troi during the war against the US. Highlighting the progressing bilateral relations, he said that Vietnam is regarded as Venezuela ’s trustworthy partner during its national construction and development. S olidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two countries have developed fruitfully over the past 25 years, especially after Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to Venezuela in 2008. He noted that a number of cooperation agreements have been implemented in the fields of energy, agriculture, technology, education and culture. The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company (PDVSA) have established their joint venture PetroMacareo, with a designed capacity of 200 , 000 barrels of crude oil per day. The ambassador revealed that the two countries will continue to implement their cooperation plans in the spheres of agriculture, trade, electricity, education and telecommunications.-VNA