Austria holds special diplomatic ceremony to welcome Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc

The welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's official visit to the Republic of Austria took place at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna at 11:30 a.m. yesterday (4:30 p.m. Hanoi time) under the chairmanship of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The Austrian government performed a series of rare rituals, demonstrating its importance to developing comprehensive cooperative relations with Vietnam.

Chancellor Kurz came to welcome and shake hands with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc right at the parking lot. An honor guard of hundreds of soldiers in full uniform stood along the red carpet, welcoming the two leaders according to special diplomatic protocol of the Austrian state. The Austrian military band played the national anthems of both countries, before Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc reviewed the honor guard.

The two leaders had a private meeting in the living room of the Hofburg Palace, then led delegations to hold talks.

Hofburg Palace was built in the 13th century and is a place associated with the history of Austria. This was once the royal palace, home to many kings, emperors of Austria and the greatest noble families in ancient European history. Hofburg Palace was also the Winter Palace of the Habsburg royal family of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Austria was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1972. Cooperation between the two countries has continuously developed in many fields.

In 2017, two-way import-export turnover reached more than 4 billion USD, up 42% compared to 2016. Austria became Vietnam's 6th largest export market in Europe. In the first 7 months of this year, Vietnam's exports to Austria reached 2.58 billion USD, up 47% compared to the same period last year.

As of August 2018, Austria had 31 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 144 million USD, ranking 43rd out of 129 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.