Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 25 March (BelTA) – Cooperation with Belarus is a priority avenue of Vietnam’s foreign policy. The statement was made by Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang as he met with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei. Vladimir Makei was in Vietnam on an official visit on 24-25 March, the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry told BelTA.

The Vietnam President remarked that his country still remembers the aid provided by the Belarusian people during Vietnam’s struggle for independence and during the post-war recovery of the national economy. During the meeting the sides spoke highly of the high dynamics of cooperation between the countries, the larger number of visits at all levels, and expressed their confidence in the future intensification of contacts. It was noted that it is necessary to bolster trade, economic, and investment cooperation between Belarus and Vietnam. According to the Vietnamese leader, the signing of a free trade agreement between the Customs Union member states and Vietnam as well as the implementation of joint major projects in Belarus and Vietnam could make a tangible contribution to these efforts.

Negotiations between Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei and Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh touched upon a broad range of matters concerning Belarusian-Vietnamese cooperation in politics, trade, economy, science, technology, and the humanitarian field. The Belarusian side and the Vietnamese one discussed the exchange of top-level visits in detail as well as cooperation in the international science, the expansion of the bilateral legal base, and consular matters.

The Belarusian and Vietnamese foreign ministers discussed trade and economic matters in detail, analyzed the progress in implementing the arrangements the sides had made earlier at the intergovernmental level. The arrangements included the fulfillment of the program for interstate economic cooperation in 2013-2015, the implementation of the most important joint projects, the progress in negotiations on signing the agreement on a free trade zone between the Customs Union member states and Vietnam. The sides discussed the implementation of mutually beneficial projects in various spheres, including in automobile engineering and telecommunications. The sides discussed preparations for Belarusian Culture Days in Vietnam in 2014 and Vietnamese Culture Days in Belarus in 2015.

The ministers signed an agreement on cooperation between the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry as well as a plan for interaction between the two ministries in 2014-2015.

In presence of the ministers top executives of Belarusian Potash Company signed a major contract with Vietnamese partners for the delivery of Belarusian potash fertilizers.

Vladimir Makei also met with heads of major Vietnamese corporations specializing in mechanical engineering and telecommunications. The sides discussed prospects of the implementation of joint investment projects.

In the last few years Belarusian-Vietnamese cooperation has grown a lot. In 2013 Belarus’ export to Vietnam rose by 6.2 times without taking into account potash fertilizers.