On January 12st 1972, Viet Nam and Austria established diplomatic relations.
In July 1991, Viet Nam opened its Embassy in Vienna, Austria.
On September 21st 1998, Austria opened its Embassy in Ha Noi.
The two countries have exchanged a number of high-level delegations:
• March 1995: Austrian President Thomas Klestil visited Vietnam
• April 1997: President of Austian Nationalrat Heinz Fischer visited Vietnam
• April 1998: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai visited Austria
• May 2002: Deputy Chairman of National Assembly of Vietnam Mai Thuc Lan visited Austria
• May 2006: President of Austrian Bundesrat Sissy Roth-Halvax visited Vietnam
• June 2008: State President of Vietnam visited Austria
• Aprile 2010: Deputy Chairman of National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyen Duc Kien visited Austria
• June 2011: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem visited Austria
• December 2011: Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan visited Austria.
• May 2012: Austrian President Heinz Fischer visited Vietnam.
2. Economic relations:
- In 1980, the two countries signed an agreement on trade and payment.
- In 1994, Austria provided Viet Nam with US$1 million to liquidate the debt from IMF.
- The two sides have also signed some other cooperation agreements.
Bilateral trade turnover reached US$ 328.33 million in eight months of 2011. Main Vietnamese exports include bicycles and bicycle parts, footwear, textile, seafood, cashew nuts and vegetables; and Vietnam’s primary imports are plastics, machinery and equipment, spare parts and some pharmaceutical products.
As of end of 2011, Austria holds 16 projects with total capital of 26.625 million USD, ranking 53th out of 91 countries/territories investing in Vietnam and 10th among EU member states.
3. Development cooperation:
Austria granted non-refundable aid for “Restoration of tractor” project in Viet Nam worth US$ 1.06 million. This project was to restore 1,500 imported tractors from Austria 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.
Austria has committed to helping Viet Nam in three main areas: railways, health sector and education.
In 1995, the two countries agreed to form a joint committee with a view to promoting bilateral cooperation in trade and investment. There have been, so far, 7 rounds of meeting of this joint committee (the last meeting was held in March 2010 in Vietnam).
Austria and Vietnam have so far signed 15 credit agreements with total value of EUR 200 million.
4. Cultural and educational relations:
The Austrian government continues to offer post-graduate fellowships to Vietnamese students (around 20 scholarships a year). At present, seven Vietnamese universities have cooperation projects with Austrian counterparts. Austrian scholarships for Vietnam in 2008 exceeded EUR 600,000 in value./.
