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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Belarus Nguyen Van Ngu. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Belarus) |
In an interview with The World and Vietnam Newspaper on the occasion of the State visit to Belarus by General Secretary To Lam and his wife along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation at the invitation of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Vietnamese Ambassador to Belarus Nguyen Van Ngu highlighted the significance and key activities of the historic visit in bilateral relations.
How does the Ambassador assess the significance of the visit to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Belarus?
Relations between Vietnam and Belarus have their roots in the Soviet era and took an important step forward following President Ho Chi Minh 's visits to Belarus in 1957 and 1961.
During our people's struggle for national independence and reunification, many Belarusian cadres and experts from the Soviet Union came to help and share difficulties. Many of them left a part of their blood and bones on the land of Vietnam.
Belarus has also helped us train thousands of students, researchers, and workers who have been contributing to the construction of our country and the development and strengthening of the friendly relations between the two countries. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Belarus sent to Vietnam many technical devices, supporting medical equipment and supplies to serve the epidemic prevention work. That is something our people are always grateful for and will never forget.
Pursuing a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of international relations, proactive and active international integration, being a friend, a reliable partner and an active and responsible member of the international community, Vietnam wishes to continue to strengthen and expand the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Belarus for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for peace, cooperation and development, in accordance with the rapidly changing international and regional context.
I believe that the upcoming State visit to Belarus by General Secretary To Lam and his wife will create new momentum for strengthening and expanding bilateral relations, providing orientations to further deepen that good relationship; creating a foundation for ministries, departments, sectors, localities and businesses of the two countries to increasingly understand each other's potential, desire to cooperate and will seek each other more and more often.
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| Vietnam-Belarus political consultation co-chaired by Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S. Lukashevich, April 24. (Photo: Bao Chi) |
Could the Ambassador share the highlights of Vietnam-Belarus relations over the past three decades and the potential areas that the two countries need to focus on to create a breakthrough for bilateral relations in the coming time?
There are many similarities between Vietnam and Belarus. Both countries have gone through years of arduous struggle for national independence, building and protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity. The people of both countries are peace-loving, hard-working, have a strong will to rise up and are hospitable.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on January 24, 1992, the two countries have maintained and developed their traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with increasingly high political trust. The two sides regularly exchange delegations, especially high-level delegations, creating a foundation for cultivating and developing a close relationship that has stood the test of time.
The two sides maintain cooperation in many fields from national defense and security to economy - trade, culture, education, science and technology, people-to-people exchange, local cooperation, creating a legal framework of about 50 documents, including international treaties or agreements between ministries and branches. Notably, 9 provincial-level localities of Vietnam have established friendly and cooperative relations with 6 out of 7 provincial-level administrative units of Belarus.
In the international arena, the two countries have similar basic positions and regularly consult and support each other at multilateral forums and mechanisms. In addition, Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Belarus is a member, have signed the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VN-EAEU FTA).
Implementing the agreements reached during the official visit to Vietnam by former Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in December 2023, the two sides continued to increase delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, develop and expand cooperation in most areas, and discuss issues arising during the interaction.
A new step forward in bilateral cooperation is the Agreement on Visa Exemption for Citizens of Vietnam and Belarus, which has come into effect since January 30, 2025, opening up many opportunities for extensive cooperation in many fields. It should be noted that this is the first time a European country has abolished the visa regime for Vietnamese citizens.
I believe that these achievements are just the beginning of a new phase of bilateral cooperation, because there is still much potential between the two countries that needs to be further exploited, for example in the fields of trade and economy, where the two countries' strong export products complement each other.
While Vietnam has rice, coffee, seafood and textiles that are very popular in the world market, Belarus is famous for its potash fertilizer, agricultural machinery, meat and dairy products and many other quality items.
Over the past 30 years, Vietnam and Belarus have built, nurtured and developed the traditional friendship and good cooperation on the basis of trust, equality and mutual respect for the benefit of the people of the two countries, contributing to strengthening peace, stability, cooperation and prosperous development in the region and the world, creating a foundation for closer and more active interactions in all fields. I believe that this is an important basis for the two sides to consider bringing the relationship to a new level in order to consolidate and enhance the effectiveness of existing mechanisms and form new cooperation mechanisms.
The potential for cooperation between the two countries is still enormous and needs to be exploited in both breadth and depth, in accordance with the aspirations and expectations of the people of the two countries, and with the needs and challenges of the new era. It is difficult to list all the areas of cooperation that the two sides can promote in the near future, but some points can be highlighted.
In terms of politics and diplomacy , it is possible to discuss mechanisms to strengthen relations through party channels, new cooperation mechanisms between ministries, departments, branches and localities, and expand forms of cooperation between legislative bodies, such as between relevant committees of the two countries' National Assemblies.
In the field of defense and security, these are issues such as information exchange, assessment and forecasting of issues related to the national interests and security of the two countries, cooperation in crime prevention, and strengthening cooperation in the defense industry.
In terms of economics and trade, it is necessary to enhance the operational efficiency of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific and Technical Cooperation, establish and promote the role of subcommittees under this Committee to create breakthroughs in economic cooperation and increase bilateral trade turnover.
In addition to traditional areas of cooperation such as industry, energy, science, and information technology, it is possible to expand to other potential areas such as logistics, transportation, digital economy, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cyber security, high technology for agriculture, effectively implementing the VN-EAEU FTA, supporting each other in economic cooperation and accessing the ASEAN and EAEU markets.
Another area of cooperation is to coordinate efforts in addressing traditional and non-traditional security challenges such as pandemics, climate change, terrorism, transnational crime, cybercrime, food security, energy security and water resources.
In the fields of culture, sports and tourism, it is possible to strengthen cultural and historical promotion programs, organize cultural days of one country in another, and increase exchanges of cultural, artistic and sports delegations.
Another expected direction is to exploit tourism potential after the two countries have implemented a visa exemption regime for ordinary passport holders and aviation businesses are discussing the possibility of opening direct flights between the two countries.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko witnessed the signing and handover ceremony of the Agreement between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Belarus on visa exemption for ordinary passport holders, December 8, 2023. (Source: VGP) |
What does the Ambassador expect from General Secretary To Lam's visit to realize the vast potential between the two countries? Besides high-level contacts, what other highlight activities will the visit have to foster and develop the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Belarus?
As mentioned, the achievements in the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries over the past 30 years, especially in recent years, are an important basis for the two countries to discuss bringing the relationship to a new level.
It is hoped that the upcoming visit of General Secretary To Lam and his wife will create new momentum for strengthening and expanding bilateral relations, further deepening the relationship between the two countries which is developing very well.
Our people have achieved great victories in the struggle for independence, national reunification and socialism building, especially since the implementation of the Doi Moi process initiated by our Party nearly 40 years ago.
To achieve these achievements, in addition to promoting the internal strength, indomitable will and revolutionary heroism of the nation, we always appreciate and remember the valuable support and assistance of international friends, including the Belarusian people and Belarusian experts who have worked in Vietnam.
In recent times, we have organized many events to honor former Belarusian experts. They have been awarded noble prizes by our State and invited by the Ministry of Defense to revisit the old battlefield.
In the locality, the Embassy and the Defense Attaché Office regularly keep in touch and organize meetings with former experts on major holidays such as the anniversary of the Liberation of the South, National Reunification Day (April 30, National Day (September 2); the Founding Day of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22); returning to the homeland to visit the graves of Belarusian martyrs who died in Vietnam while performing international duties...
On the occasion of the upcoming visit of General Secretary To Lam, the Embassy plans to organize a meeting between the General Secretary and former Belarusian experts and Belarusian friends. I hope the meeting will be successful and this will be another highlight of the visit. In particular, this will be the first activity to honor former Belarusian experts at the highest leadership level of our Party and State. This is a timely and meaningful event because in the future, the number of former Belarusian experts who can attend will gradually decrease due to age.
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| The Embassy and the Office of the Vietnamese Defense Attaché in Belarus organized the Ceremony to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Vietnam People's Army, December 2024. |
After more than 3 years working in Belarus, what special memories does the Ambassador have of the country and people of this Eastern European country?
I really have many good impressions and memories of the country and people of Belarus. It is the peace, order, and the feeling of safety when walking on the streets or participating in traffic. It is the pristine, beautiful natural landscape, the vast rice fields, the bright yellow rapeseed fields, the cleverly and funny straw rolls. It is also the dishes prepared in a rustic but equally sophisticated style.
And above all, they are gentle, kind and hospitable people, with sincere feelings of Belarusians towards the Vietnamese people and nation. Many times, I have met ordinary people, when I introduced myself as Vietnamese, they asked to hug and kiss me and then started telling stories or beautiful memories about their trip to Vietnam or their relatives', or just their thoughts, perceptions and feelings about Vietnam.
Personally, I, as well as the Embassy staff and family members, have clearly felt the sincere affection and humane behavior of the Belarusian staff and people towards the Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Belarus.
During more than three years working in the area, I am proud to witness the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Belarus continue to develop to a new height. I am honored to contribute a small part to expanding and deepening that very good relationship, the highlight of which is the upcoming visit to Belarus by General Secretary To Lam and his wife.
I also dream of witnessing or directly participating in other symbolic events in the relationship between the two countries, such as the announcement ceremony of the opening of a direct flight route or watching a friendly football match. However, because my term of office is limited, I hope that those dreams will come true in the not too distant future.
Thank you very much Ambassador!
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| Minsk, the capital of Belarus. (Source: Kayak) |
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dai-su-nguyen-van-ngu-chuyen-tham-cua-tong-bi-thu-to-lam-khoi-dau-cho-mot-giai-doan-hop-tac-moi-giua-viet-nam-va-belarus-313482.html
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