Vietnamese President interested in visiting Kazakhstan

Vietnamese President interested in visiting Kazakhstan

Hanoi, 17 July 2024 Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Tumysh met with the President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam To Lam.

At the outset, the Kazakh diplomat conveyed warm greetings to the Head of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. The President of Viet Nam noted: “It was touching to receive the kind congratulations of President Tokayev on the occasion of my birthday. In addition, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the leadership of friendly and fraternal Kazakhstan for the invitation to visit the Land of the Great Steppe on a state visit. I have always been interested in traveling to your beautiful country.”

Later, the meeting turned to a conversation about the official visit of the Head of Kazakhstan to Viet Nam in August 2023, and the return state visit of the Head of Viet Nam. Current pressing topics, related to the intensification of political, trade, economic, investment, military-technical, cultural and educational cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

At the end of 2023, trade between Kazakhstan and Viet Nam amounted to about 1 billion USD. Proceeding from this, and expressing hope that this figure will increase even more this year, the parties agreed on the need to raise cooperation between the two countries to a new level.

Kanat Tumysh said that the increased activities of Vietnamese companies in the market of Kazakhstan in recent years pleases its leadership and people. In this context, he noted that investors from Viet Nam were offered favorable conditions.

The recent entry into force (on 25 May 2024) of the relevant intergovernmental agreement establishing a visa-free regime, also made an important contribution to the development of relations of friendship and cooperation between two peoples. At the same time, for the proper development of mutual tourism, further bold and persistent steps are required. In this regard, establishing direct flights with the Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang (from Astana and Almaty) by the Kazakh national airline Air Astana would be very relevant. This, together with flights of VietJetAir (Viet Nam) and SCAT Airlines (Kazakhstan) to Nha Trang and Phu Quoc (from Astana, Almaty and Taraz) will become a good platform for strengthening relations between the two peoples and two countries.

The President of Viet Nam noted with satisfaction the increased activities of Vietnamese companies in Kazakhstan and the planned joint projects. He stated that it is necessary to intensify cooperation in the fields of economy, industry and trade, finance, investment, transport, tourism, agriculture, culture, education and science. Expand cultural exchange and provide additional educational grants to students from both countries. He also paid special attention to military-technical cooperation, emphasizing the need to conclude appropriate agreements in this area in the future.

To strengthen relations between our peoples, the establishment of twinning relations between the regions of the two countries will be very useful as well. Currently, the Mangystau region is considering signing a Memorandum of twinning cooperation with the city of Danang, the city of Almaty – with the Khanh Hoa province, while the East Kazakhstan region – with Bac Ninh province. And relevant work is underway to establish cooperation between other regions.

The Ambassador of Kazakhstan familiarized the President of Viet Nam with the initiatives of the Kazakh chairmanship in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), as well as the potential of the ASEAN – Viet Nam – China – Kazakhstan – Azerbaijan – Turkey – Europe International Railway Transport Route (“Middle Corridor”). Both sides expressed the hope that Viet Nam will become a “golden bridge” for Kazakhstan and OTS to the Southeast Asia, while Kazakhstan will become a “golden bridge” for Viet Nam and ASEAN to the OTS region and Europe.

The President of Viet Nam noted that the “Middle Corridor” has a potentially great future. In this regard, he expressed the opinion that in the years to come it is necessary to establish common international terminals and hubs of transportation logistics. Hence, this will increase the potential for fast delivery of goods from ASEAN to Europe via Kazakh territory. In this context, Kazakhstan’s transit potential is important for both Viet Nam and the ASEAN region.

The parties also exchanged views on cooperation at the UN and international/regional organizations. In particular, within the framework of the UN General Assembly, UN ECOSOC, UN ESCAP, UNHRC, UNESCO, IAEA, EAEU, CICA and other organizations and forums (Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, etc.). Viet Nam’s President expressed gratitude for the support, provided by the Republic of Kazakhstan to Viet Nam within the framework of the UN and international/regional organizations.

The President of Viet Nam assured that, in general, support will be provided to the initiatives of the Kazakh side both within the framework of bilateral relations, and at multilateral international platforms.

On 16 July 2024, in addition to the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, chairing the Organization of Turkic States, the Ambassadors of fraternal Azerbaijan and Türkiye also met with the President of Viet Nam.