Hanoi (VNA)😼 – Belarusian President Aleksandr Grigorievich Lukashenko will pay a State visit to Vietnam from December 8-9, aiming to promote traditional friendship and multifaceted links between the two countries.

Vietnam and Belarus set up their diplomatic relationship in January 1992. Belarus opened its embassy in Vietnam in 1998, while Vietnam’s embassy was set up in Belarus five years later. They maintain regular exchanges of high-ranking delegations as well as close links and mutual support at the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and other forums and international organisations. The Vietnam- Belarus Intergovernmental Committee for Economic , Trade , Scientific and Technological Cooperation is organised annually, and the latest one took place in Belarus from October 26-27. Two-way trade in the first eight months of this year hit 95.8 million USD. Vietnam’s exports to Belarus include aquatic products, wooden products, textiles, footwear, rice, natural rubber, peanuts, cashews, tea, canned fruit and vegetables, pharmaceuticals and computers, while it imports fertilizer, machinery, automobile spare parts, trucks and chemicals from Belarus. Regarding education and training, Belarus has helped Vietnam train officials and experts. Around 70 Vietnamese students are studying in Belarus. The two sides’ scientific and technological agencies have also effectively cooperated in a number of fields with positive outcomes. Regarding labour, there is great potential for Vietnam and Belarus to expand labour exchanges. An intergovernmental agreement on temporary employment for Vietnamese citizens in Belarus and Belarusian citizens in Vietnam went into effect in 2013, laying a legal basis for the two sides to expand their connection in the field. Relations between the two countries’ localities have been stepped up with the signing of cooperation agreements between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh of Vietnam and Minsk. In December 2006, the Belarusian Government issued a decision which allows Vietnamese citizens who worked and studied in the country before 1992 to settle in Belarus. At present, there are about 1,500 Vietnamese nationals living in Belarus. In recent years, the two countries have signed several framework agreements, including the establishment of diplomatic, economic-trade cooperation, investment encouragement and protection, and IT and communications links. Lukashenko’s visit is hoped to facilitate all-around cooperation between the two countries. Vietnamese and Belarusian leaders will also take the occasion to discuss strategies to spur economic and trade ties.-VNA