Minsk (VNA) – Vietnam always attaches great importance to itstraditional friendship and all-round cooperation with Belarus, said Chairwomanof the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on December 12 (local time).

Holding talks with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the NationalAssembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko, the Vietnamese top legislator thankedBelarus for supporting Vietnam at the multilateral mechanisms like the UnitedNations (UN) and the non-aligned movement.

She took the occasion to congratulate Belarus on the country’s successfulorganisation of the 7th Convocation of the House of Representativesof the National Assembly, and congratulate Vladimir Andreichenko for hisre-election.

Vladimir Andreichenko, for his part, believed that NA Chairwoman Ngan’sofficial visit to his country will serve as a catalyst to further boost thetraditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the twoparliaments and two countries as a whole.

Promoting cooperation with Vietnam is a top priority in Belarus’s foreignpolicy in the Asia-Pacific region, he stressed, saying both sides hold hugecooperation potential as they share the same viewpoint in many internationalissues, and their economies share complementary natures.

Regarding economic cooperation, the Vietnamese top legislator said that two-waytrade value is still modest, lagging behind the two countries’ potential andexpectations. She recommended both sides to work together to take advantage ofthe free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union.

The two leaders said that both sides should prioritise collaboration in thefields of Vietnam’s strengths and Belarus’s demands such as garments andtextiles, wooden products, seafood, pharmaceuticals and computers, as well asBelarus’s strengths like fertiliser, machines, equipment, and automobile parts,among others.

Agreeing with NA Chairwoman Ngan’s suggestion to set up joint ventures betweenbusinesses of both sides, Vladimir Andreichenko said that Belarus willaccelerate work to establish tea and coffee processing plants in Vietnam sothat the products will suit the taste of Belarusian consumers.

Both sides have enjoyed effective cooperation in defence-security, they said,hoping they will continue long-term collaboration based on inked agreements,including the Vietnam – Belarus military technical cooperation for 2016-2020.

NA Chairwoman Ngan asked Belarus to further grant scholarships in IT,radio-electronics and automation for Vietnamese students, saying the Vietnamesesides stand ready to receive Belarusian military personnel who want to studyVietnamese language and join international courses at the Vietnam’s NationalDefence Academy.

She suggested both sides maintain personnel training courses, and exchangeinformation about national security situation in each nation, including thefight against organised crimes, transnational crimes, high-tech crimes, andillegal immigration, among others.

At the talks, the two leaders spoke highly of the bilateral cooperation inculture, sports and tourism, voicing their endorsement for cultural exchangebetween the two nations through the organisation of Cultural Days in Vietnamand Belarus.

The number of Belarusian visitors to Vietnam has been on strong surge afterVietnam provided visa exemption to Belarusian citizens, NA Chairwoman Ngansaid, wishing Belarus will create favourable conditions for Vietnamese nationals’entry and exit.

She thanked the Belarusian Government, parliament and people for creatingfavourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to better integrate into thehost nation, helping consolidate and develop cooperative ties and friendship betweenthe two nations.

Touching on the East Sea issue, NA Chairwoman Ngan laid stress on Vietnam’s consistentstance to settle maritime disputes by peaceful measures and in line withinternational law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

She said she rejoiced at the sound cooperative ties between the Vietnamese NAand the Belarusian House of Representatives in the past time, recommending bothsides maintain the exchange of high-level delegations, share experience inlegislative work, and closely coordinate at multilateral forums like theInter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to discuss issues of mutual concern.

In its role as the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Chair in 2020, theVietnamese NA will work to promote the partnership between AIPA and Belarusianlegislative bodies, she highlighted.

She invited the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the NationalAssembly of Belarus to visit Vietnam and attend the AIPA-41 in Vietnam nextyear. She hoped that Belarusian businesses will also come to Vietnam on theoccasion to seek investment opportunities in the Southeast Asian nation.

Meanwhile, Andreichenko said as there is huge room for both nations to developeconomic and trade cooperation, the two parliaments should play a moreproactive role to support the bilateral collaboration.

In a bid to increase the two-way trade value to 500 million USD per year, it iscrucial to promote the implementation of initiatives within ASEAN and EurasianEconomic Union, he suggested.

He said he will attend the AIPA-41 in Vietnam, and will, together with adelegation of Belarusian businesses, seek investment opportunities in thenation.

He wished that Vietnamese enterprises will participate in the economic andtrade forum scheduled in Belarus in May 2020, describing the forum as a goodopportunity for businesses of both sides to study cooperative potentials.

Together with existing cooperative mechanisms, both parliaments should work onnew initiatives to enhance cooperation, he said, competent committees of thetwo National Assemblies need to join efforts to step up cultural exchangebetween the two countries. 

Besides, he stated that education cooperation isimportant to the Vietnam-Belarus relations, and Belarus is willing to supportVietnam to train experts in the fields of construction and mechanics.

He also stressed the necessity to promote cooperation at local level, hopingthe draft plan on Hanoi – Minsk collaboration will be inked soon./.