President To Lam receives Ambassadors of countries belonging to the Organization of Turkic States

President To Lam with Azerbaijani Ambassador to Vietnam Shovgi Kamal Oglu Mehdizade, Head of the Group of Ambassadors of the Organization of Turkic States, on the afternoon of July 16. Photo: Nhan Sang/VNA

President To Lam said that the Organization of Turkic States plays an important role, is located in the center and connects Asia and Europe; affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to further strengthen cooperative relations with the Turkic Organization in general and each member country in particular.

Appreciating the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Türkiye which have been strengthened through regular meetings at all levels, President To Lam asked the Ambassadors to continue to closely coordinate with Vietnamese agencies to promote delegation exchanges, especially high-level visits. The President also stressed that Vietnam and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey need to continue to closely and effectively coordinate and support each other at international and regional forums, including the United Nations.

President To Lam acknowledged that economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey has been growing, with bilateral trade turnover growing positively every year. However, bilateral relations between Vietnam and these countries have not really matched their potential, and there is still a lot of room for cooperation, especially in the fields of transportation, agriculture, education and training, culture, sports, tourism, local cooperation, people-to-people diplomacy and a number of other fields. Vietnam is committed to creating all favorable conditions for enterprises of member countries of the Turkic Organization to do business and invest in Vietnam.

President To Lam expressed his belief that with their experience and enthusiasm for work, the Ambassadors will make many practical contributions to promoting the cooperative relations between Vietnam and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Türkiye in the coming time, bringing the relations between the two countries to develop more comprehensively and strongly. He also affirmed that the Party, State and ministries and branches of Vietnam will create all favorable conditions for the Ambassadors to have a successful term of work in Vietnam.

The Ambassadors of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Türkiye once again conveyed the warmest congratulations from the high-ranking leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Türkiye to President To Lam on his new position as President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Ambassadors of the countries emphasized that, on the basis of friendship and multifaceted cooperation, the countries attach special importance to the role of Vietnam, wish to further expand bilateral cooperation with Vietnam as well as closely coordinate at multilateral forums, promote cooperation between Turkic and ASEAN for the benefit of each country, for peace, cooperation and development in the two regions and in the world.

The ambassadors proposed a number of key directions for cooperation in the coming time, in which Ambassador of Azerbaijan Shovgi Kamal Oglu Mehdizade emphasized that in 2024, the two countries will celebrate the 65th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's visit to Azerbaijan (July 1959), establishing a solid foundation for the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of oil and gas with many generations of Vietnamese students being trained and becoming leading experts in the oil and gas industry of Vietnam. On this occasion, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Vietnam will organize many activities to introduce and promote the history, tradition and potential for cooperation between the two countries.

President To Lam takes a photo with ambassadors of countries belonging to the Organization of Turkic States and delegates on the afternoon of July 16. Photo: Nhan Sang/VNA

Ambassador of Kazakhstan Kanat Tumysh said that economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has developed dynamically with rapid growth in trade turnover in recent years. He said that the two sides have many strengths to develop cooperation in the fields of transportation, aviation, education and training, tourism, and cooperation between localities. He also affirmed that Kazakhstan is ready to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Kazakhstan.

Turkish Ambassador Korhan Kemik said that he will make efforts to promote the upgrading of bilateral relations as well as the negotiation and signing of documents to complete the legal framework for bilateral cooperation. The Ambassador hopes to implement specific measures to strive to achieve the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover from 2.2 billion USD to 4 billion USD as agreed by the two countries' senior leaders. The Turkish Ambassador thanked the Vietnamese agencies, ministries and sectors for supporting the early opening of the Turkish Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, which will serve as a basis for promoting cooperation activities between the two countries in the coming time.

Thanking President To Lam for his welcome, the Ambassadors affirmed that they will make efforts to contribute to the common goal as well as develop and deepen bilateral relations with Vietnam.