At the talks (Photo: VNA) At the talks, which took place following a welcomeceremony for the Kazakh leader the same day, Thuong spoke highly ofachievements Kazakhstan has recorded in politics and socio-economicdevelopment.
Vietnam always attaches importance to thetraditional friendship with Kazakhstan, regardingthe country as a leading important partner in Central Asia, the host leaderaffirmed.
Tokayev lauded Vietnam’s reform policy as well asits socio-economic performance and its improving prestige in the international arena,saying the Kazakh State always treasures the long-standing friendship with Vietnam andconsiders the country one of the most important partners in Asia-Pacific.
The two leaders agreed on many specific measures todeepen the bilateral ties, and shared their views on regional and internationalissues of shared concern.
Both affirmed the importance of all-level delegationexchanges, saying the two sides have effectively put in place existing cooperationmechanisms as well as those between ministries, agencies and localities toenhance mutual understanding and trust, and create momentum for multifacetedcollaboration.
Host and guest consented to maintain closecoordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the UnitedNations and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures inAsia (CICA).
Vietnam stands ready to serve as a bridge forKazakhstan to foster cooperation with other Southeast Asian countries, whileKazakhstan will help Vietnam step up collaboration with other countries inCentral Asia.
The leaders rejoiced at the positive developments ineconomic, trade and investment cooperation, including the effective implementationof a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union(EAEU) of which Kazakhstan is a member.
However, they noted ample room and potential remainfor Vietnam and Kazakhstan to boost their cooperation.
President Thuong proposed that Kazakhstan supportthe launch of negotiations for the upgrade of the free tradeagreement to meet the requirements of the reality and create more new opportunities for bilateral trade.
The Kazakh President said he hopes the two sideswill work closely together to reach the target of 1.5 billion USD in two-waytrade. He affirmed the strong support of bilateral cooperation in logisticsconnections, transportation and agriculture. He suggested the establishment ofa Vietnam-Kazakhstan Business Council to promote collaboration amongbusinesses of both sides.
The two sides shared a hope to bolster investmentcooperation by strengthening the exchange of information on the investmentenvironment and providing favourable conditions forbusinesses of the two sides to access each other’s market. The two sides shouldconsider the possibility of establishing joint ventures in the fields of strength and demand such as garment-textiles, Halal food processing,seafood and canned food to supply the Central Asia market, they agreed.
They concurred to expand partnership to otherpotential areas such as transportation, education-training, culture, sports,tourism, finance, banking, and high technology. The two leaders welcomed theopening of a direct air route between Vietnam and Kazakhstan in October 2022.They expressed belief that the signing of a bilateral visa exemption agreementfor passport holders and a Memorandum of Understanding in the field oftourism on this occasion will contribute to enhancing tourism cooperation andpeople-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
The Vietnamese and Kazakh leaders witness the signing of cooperation agreements. (Photo: VNA)
President Thuong thanked the Kazakh President andState for giving favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live,study and work stably in Kazakhstan.
President Tokayev took the occasion to invitePresident Thuong to visit his country at a future time that works for both sides. President Thuongaccepted the invitation with pleasure.
Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed thesigning of cooperation agreements, including the agreement on the transferof persons sentenced to imprisonment, and the agreement on visa exemption forpopular passport holders. They also discussed a joint action plan to promote economic-tradecooperation in the 2023-2025 period, an MOU oncooperation in the field of tourism, and one betweenVietnam Television (VTV) and Agency Khabar, a major media outlet inKazakhstan./.
VNA
