Hanoi (VNA) – President Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressedhis hope that Vietnam’s partnerships with Belarus and Egypt will grow while receivingthe countries’ new ambassadors who came to present their credentials on April13.

Welcoming Belarusian Ambassador Vladimir Baravikov, the Stateleader affirmed Vietnam always attaches importance to traditional friendshipand multifaceted cooperation with Belarus. He said he believes the diplomatwill make considerable contributions to bilateral ties.

Baravikov pledged his utmost efforts to help develop the twocountries’ cooperation in a comprehensive manner, adding that a senior leaderof Belarus will visit Vietnam in the near future to further intensify bilateralrelations.

As the two countries have always backed each other’s stanceswithin international frameworks, Belarus supports Vietnam’s candidacy formembership of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for 2023 - 2025. It alsohighly values Vietnam’s recognition of its COVID-19 “vaccine passport”, whichwill facilitate exchanges and cooperation between the two peoples, according tothe ambassador.

PresidentPhuc appreciated Belarus being one of the first countries to recogniseVietnam’s “vaccine passport” and thanked the country for advocating theSoutheast Asian nation’s candidacy for UNHRC membership.

He asked Belarus to create optimal conditions for moreVietnamese goods, especially agricultural and aquatic products, to enter itsmarket to help balance bilateral trade, which approximated 169 million USD in2021.

Suggesting both sides step up cooperation measures,especially their inter-governmental committee, the President took thisoccasion to thank Belarus for creating favourable conditions for Vietnamesepeople to live, study, and work there, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congratulating Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama on herappointment as Ambassador of Egypt to Vietnam, President Phuc noted Vietnamtreasures the long-standing friendship with Egypt and views the latter as aleading partner in Africa.

The newly-accredited diplomat spoke highly of Vietnam’s rolein the international community, including ASEAN and the UN.

She recommended the two sides boost the implementation of theiragreements and voiced her hope that they will further promote cultural ties asthe Egyptian people highly value Vietnam’s special culture and history whileher country also boasts a unique culture.

President Phuc expressed his delight at the growthin bilateral trade, investment, and educational cooperation even amid thepandemic, noting that relevant agencies of the countries should enhancecoordination to further tap into cooperation potential.

They also need to keep working together and supporting eachother at multilateral forums, particularly the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement,he said, adding cooperation should be strengthened to raise annual bilateraltrade to 1 billion USD.

Vietnam hopes Egypt will maintain scholarships in Arabianlanguage training for Vietnamese students and consider providing scholarshipsfor training experts in Halal standards, Phuc went on.

Since both countries are famous for their cultures and manyscenic landscapes, he called for a direct air route to be opened soon inorder to foster bilateral tourism./.