State President Nguyen Minh Triet and his Bulgarian counterpart Parvanov witnessed the signing ceremony in Hanoi after their talks, the Viet Nam News Agency reports.
Parvanov was the first State-level foreign guest to visit Viet Nam in the Lunar New Year, and the first Bulgarian president to visit Viet Nam since 1979.
President Triet told reporters in the capital city that the two heads of state discussed ways to step up bilateral economic, trade, investment, cultural, educational and healthcare cooperation ties.
He said he would welcome more investment from Bulgaria and that Bulgarian firms could rely on Viet Nam as a gateway to enter other Southeast Asian markets.
Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Bulgaria remains limited, at around US$80 million last year, the news agency said. Viet Nam exports to Bulgaria coal, coffee, rubber, seafood, foodstuff, bamboo products, pepper, cashew nuts, textiles and clothes and imports chemicals, pharmaceutical products, wine, machines and shipping equipment.
President Parvanov said the two countries could boost cooperation in pharmaceutical production, information technology and tourism and create favorable conditions for companies from both sides to set up joint ventures.
He also met Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh.
By August 2008, Bulgaria had five investment projects in Viet Nam with total registered capital of nearly US$12.9 million. (SGT)
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