President Nguyen Minh Triet invited Austrian businesses to Vietnam to cooperate with Vietnamese enterprises and affirmed the country always create favourable conditions for foreign investors, including Austrians.

President Triet, who is on an official visit to Austria, and his Austrian counterpart, President Heinz Fischer, addressed the Austria-Vietnam Business Forum in Vienna on June 3.

President Triet said he believed the forum would markedly help improve economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries in the coming time.

He said that with their respective role and position, Vietnam and Austria could help each other not only in bilateral economic cooperation, but also be a bridge for each country to enter and expand their markets in Europe and Asia.

President Heinz Fischer said that through joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Vietnam has integrated more into the world economy and that in recent years, economic, trade and investment relations have been a foundation for effective cooperation between the two countries. He said that agreements signed during this visit would be an important impetus for the Austria-Vietnam ties in the future and the forum brought opportunities for business circle of the two countries to study and expand cooperation in the coming time.

The forum attracted more than 100 outstanding businesses from Vietnam and Austria.

In 2007, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Austria hit over 170 million USD. Austria has about 10 investment projects in Vietnam with a combined capital of over 12 million USD, ranking 53rd of 82 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of a sample credit agreement between Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance and Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank as well as a framework agreement cooperation and relation promotion between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO).

They also witnessed the signing of an agreement on building pulp mills in Binh Dinh and Nghe An provinces between Saigon Investment Group and Andritz Group.

Earlier, President Triet met with leaders of several giant Austrian economic groups.

In the afternoon, President Nguyen Minh Triet received former Slovakia president Rudolf Schuster and representatives from Slovakia’s economic groups.

The Vietnamese President said the two countries possess a long-lasting relationship and the Vietnamese people always appreciate and are grateful to Slovakia’s support during the country’s struggle for independence in the past and the present national development.

He said he believed that Slovakia’s preparations for opening its embassy in Vietnam will further foster multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam will consider the opening of its embassy in Bratislava in the coming time, President Triet said.