Hanoi (VNA)🍸 – A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam led by Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), and Chairman of the Central Theory Council, has paid a working trip to Kazakhstan from November 13-16.

Within the trip’s framework, Thang had a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, State Counselor Karin Erlan, and Executive Secretary of the ruling Amanat Party Karibek Daulet. He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the HCMA and the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, took part in a scientific seminar marking the 65th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s visit to Kazakhstan, and observed the signing of an MoU establishing sisterly relations between Bac Ninh province in Vietnam and East Kazakhstan. The meetings and working sessions covered a wide range of topics, including bilateral relations, strategic directions for future cooperation, and discussions on regional and global issues of mutual interest. At the meeting between Thang and President Tokayev, the host leader emphasised that the visit is a significant milestone in promoting comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. He expressed Kazakhstan’s sharing over the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam and recalled his successful state visit to Vietnam in August 2023. He asked Thang to extend his invitation to Vietnamese President Luong Cuong to visit Kazakhstan in May 2025 for the Astana International Forum. On bilateral relations, Tokayev praised the impressive development across all areas, including politics, trade, investment, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. He affirmed that Kazakhstan values its traditional friendship with Vietnam and takes the country as a key partner in Southeast Asia, within the framework of Kazakhstan’s balanced, multilateral foreign policy. The President assured that his country will implement concrete measures to further enhance cooperation with Vietnam and thanked it for its support of Kazakhstan’s initiatives, including the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). In response, Thang thanked Kazakh people for supporting Vietnam during the fight for independence and national reunification in the past as well as current national construction and defence. He also praised Kazakhstan’s economic development strategies aimed at reducing dependence on oil and natural resources. Thang informed President Tokayev of Vietnam’s economic transformation, from a centrally planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy, with a focus on sustainable development and ensuring no one is left behind. He reiterated Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of relations, being a friend and a trustworthy partner of the international community. Regarding the future of bilateral ties, the official stressed the strategic importance of Kazakhstan which serves as a critical link between Asia and Europe. He proposed enhancing cooperation in sectors such as trade, investment, science and technology, education, and transport. Thang also suggested the opening of direct flights between Hanoi and Astana, the creation of favourable conditions for businesses of the two sides to promote cooperation towards the goal of 10 billion USD in two-way trade, and the promotion of cooperation in various fields like defence, security, digital transformation, green transition, and organic agriculture. At the working sessions between the Vietnamese delegation and State Counselor Karin Erlan and Amanat Party leaders, both sides noted the rapid growth of bilateral trade which reached nearly 1 billion USD in 2023, and expressed optimism for continued growth in 2024. New agreements, including visa exemptions for ordinary passport holders and direct air routes between Astana and Vietnam's Nha Trang and Phu Quoc, are expected to drive further cooperation in trade, investment, and tourism. Leaders of the Amanat Party affirmed that the party places great importance on strengthening and deepening its relations with the Communist Party of Vietnam, and expressed the party's willingness to sign a new cooperation agreement between the two parties which will replace their Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2018. Thang and his Kazakh hosts also commended the signing of MoU between the HCMA and the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies and the sisterly relations between Bac Ninh and East Kazakhstan, describing these as concrete steps to implement agreements signed during President Tokayev’s visit to Vietnam earlier this year./.