Vietnam President to attend APEC in Peru, first overseas trip since inauguration

Vietnamese State President Luong Cuong will pay an official visit to Peru and attend the 2024 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Lima from November 12-16, marking his first overseas trip since taking office late last month.

Before arriving in Peru, Cuong will pay an official visit to Chile from November 9-12, the foreign ministry announced on Wednesday, without revealing any meetings anticipated between him and other dignitaries.

The visits will be made at the invitations of Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra and Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font.

The APEC, which gathers 21 Pacific-rim economies including the U.S., China, and Japan, represents 38% of the world population and accounts for 61% of global GDP and 47% of global trade.

During its 26 years since joining the bloc, Vietnam has been one of the most active members in putting forward initiatives and projects, and made positive contributions to regional economic links, said the ministry.

Vietnam and Chile established diplomatic relations in March 1971 and opened embassies in each country one year later. The relations were disrupted after the state coup by Augusto Pinochet in 1973 until the ambassador-level ties were restored in September 1990.

The two countries established a comprehensive partnership in May 2007 on the occasion of the Chile visit of the then-Party chief Nong Duc Manh. Both are parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which was signed on March 8, 2018.

Bilateral trade went up from $534 million in 2013 to $1.57 billion in 2023 and $1.3 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 5% from the same period of 2023. Chile is Vietnam’s fourth-largest export market in Latin America, while the latter is the former’s largest ASEAN trade partner, according to the foreign ministry.

Vietnam and Peru established diplomatic relations in November 1994. Peru sent the first permanent ambassador to Vietnam in December 2014, while the Vietnamese embassy in Brazil concurrently covers Peru.

Two-way trade soared from $353.8 million to $486 million in 2023 and $289.6 million in the first nine months of 2024.

Vietnam has two investments in Peru totaling over $1 billion, made by Viettel Group and Petrovietnam.