RELATIONS VIETNAM - AUSTRIA:
- On 1/12/1972, Viet Nam and Austria established diplomatic relations.
- In July 1991, Viet Nam opened its Embassy in Vienna, Austria.
- On 21/9/1998, Austria opened its Embassy in Ha Noi.
The two countries have exchanged a number of high-level delegations:
a) From Austrian side: President Thomas Klestil (March 1995); Chairman of theNational Council Heinz Fischer (April 1997), who is now the President of Austria;Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel attending ASEM 5 Summit in Hanoi(October 2004); Speaker of the Bundesrat Sissy Roth-Halvax (May 2006).
b) From Vietnamese side: visits by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (April 1998), Vice-President Truong My Hoa to Austria (September 2005), President Nguyen Minh Triet(June 2008), Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai (February 2009), ViceChairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Kien (April 2010), Deputy PrimeMinister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem (June 2011), Deputy PrimeMinister Nguyen Thien Nhan (December 2011).
2. Economic relations:
- In 1980, the two countries signed an agreement on trade and payment.
- In 1994, Austria provided Viet Nam with US$ 1 million to liquidate the debt from IMF.
- The two sides have also signed some other cooperation agreements.
Bilateral trade turnover reached US$ 626.89 million in 2011. Main Vietnameseexports include bicycles and bicycle parts, footwear, textile, seafood, cashew nuts,and vegetables; and Vietnam’s primary imports are plastics, machinery andequipment, spare parts, and pharmaceutical products.
Year | Export | | Import | | Trade volume | |
| Value | Increase(%) | Value | Increase(%) | Value | Increase(%) |
2007 | 111,94 | 14,8% | 63,772 | 13,5% | 175,71 | 14% |
2008 | 108,73 | -2,8% | 92,63 | 46% | 201,36 | 14,5% |
2009 | 103,38 | -4,6% | 153,43 | 66% | 256,82 | 27% |
2010 | 144,02 | 39% | 123,39 | -19% | 267,41 | 4% |
2011 | 461,53 | 320% | 165,36 | 134% | 626,89 | 234% |
(Unit: million USD)
As of end of 2011, Austria holds 19 projects with total capital of 50.765 million USD,ranking 51st out of 94 countries/territories investing in Vietnam and 12th among EUmember states.
3. Development cooperation:
Austria granted non-refundable aid for “Restoration of tractor” project in Viet Namworth US$ 1.06 million. This project was to restore 1,500 imported tractors fromAustria during the 1980-1997 periods. In April 2001, Austria funded a project titled“Research and development for the post-harvest technology in the Mekong Delta”with the total capital of EUR 575,000.
Austrian official development aid (ODA) is one kind of credit for export assistance(Soft loan). The beneficiaries are required to buy equipment from Austria throughAustrian banks. Austria has committed to helping Viet Nam in three main areas:railways, health and education.
In 1995, the two countries agreed to form a joint committee with a view to promote bilateral cooperation in trade and investment. There have been, so far, 7 rounds ofmeeting of this joint committee (the last meeting was held in March 2010 in Vietnam).
Austria and Vietnam have signed 15 credit agreements with total value of EUR 200million.
(ODA commitments in CG 2011)
| Sponsor | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | Compare2012 with2011 (%) |
| Austria | 5.86 | 123.57 | 26.6 | 152.51 | 473.35 |
(Unit: million USD)
4. Cultural and educational relations:The Austrian government continues to offer post-graduate fellowships to Vietnamesestudents (around 20 scholarships a year). At present, seven Vietnamese universitieshave cooperation projects with Austrian counterparts. Austrian scholarships forVietnam in 2008 exceeded EUR 600,000 in value./.