President is to set off for Vietnam for talks

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Rouhani will leave Tehran for Hanoi on Wednesday to hold talks with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, said Parviz Esmaeili on Tuesday.

Esmaeili added that the Iranian and Vietnamese presidents would exchange views about ways to improve cooperation on issues of mutual interests.

He said high-ranking delegations of the two countries would also hold negotiations, adding that Tehran and Hanoi would sign documents for cooperation.

Simultaneous with Rouhani’s visit, a delegation from Iran’s private sector will also be present in Vietnam to discuss enhanced economic relations between the two countries.

Vietnam and Iran established relations in 1973 and since then the two countries have increased political and economic cooperation through exchange of visits by senior officials from both sides.
Iran opened an embassy in Hanoi in 1991 and Vietnam opened its embassy in Tehran in 1997.

Trade exchanges between Iran and Vietnam reached USD 300 million in 2013 from USD 80 million in 2010. Their trade balance currently stands at USD 350 million with the Islamic Republic expressing interest in seeing the figure rise to USD two billion in five years' time.

/SR