Among them, Mongolia is the first stop in this visit and working trip of General Secretary and President To Lam.
The State visit to Mongolia by General Secretary and President To Lam demonstrates the desire to promote bilateral relations with Mongolia in depth, substance, and effectiveness, in accordance with the new situation.
The visit takes place in the context that 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (November 17, 1954 - November 17, 2024) and the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Mongolia is developing well with many achievements in the fields of politics , economy, culture and people-to-people exchange.
Seven decades of good political and diplomatic relations
Vietnam and Mongolia are two countries with a long-standing traditional friendship. Mongolia was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam and Vietnam was the first country in Southeast Asia with which Mongolia established diplomatic relations.
The two countries established diplomatic relations on November 17, 1954, marking an important milestone in the history of relations between the two countries.
In July 1955, President Ho Chi Minh led a delegation of the Vietnamese Party and Government to officially visit Mongolia, opening the way for the development of friendly relations between the two countries.
On the path of national construction and development, Vietnam and Mongolia have closely coordinated in many fields, giving each other selfless and transparent help.
During the Vietnam resistance war against the US imperialists, the Mongolian people actively supported and provided many necessities to the Vietnamese people. In response, Vietnam also took many practical actions to help Mongolia such as sending experts to help survey and develop transportation, cultivation, and restore historical relics.
After 70 years since its establishment, the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Mongolia has been continuously consolidated, strengthened and developed. The two countries regularly help and support each other in the process of protecting, building and developing the country, maintaining close cooperation through Party, State, Government channels and people-to-people exchanges.
Cooperation in the fields of politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, agriculture, and education has received attention and promotion from leaders at all levels, and has been increasingly expanded, deepened, and achieved practical results.
That relationship has been increasingly strengthened and developed through regular visits and working sessions of senior leaders of the two countries, contributing significantly to strengthening political relations between Vietnam and Mongolia.
The visits to Mongolia by the President of Vietnam in 2000 and 2008, and the visits to Vietnam by the President of Mongolia in 1994, 2005, 2013 and 2023 have contributed to strengthening political trust and fostering the development of bilateral relations.
Most recently, there was a visit to Mongolia by General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense (October 2023); a State visit to Vietnam by Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh (November 2023); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son met with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkhiin Battsetseg on the sidelines of the Future Summit and the High-level General Debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA (September 2024)...
During the visit to Vietnam by Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh in November 2023, the two sides agreed to promote the substantive and effective development of bilateral relations in many fields in line with the cooperation potential of each country; coordinate the implementation of activities on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2024; promote the effective implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements, thereby contributing to strengthening political trust between the two countries and towards establishing a new framework for relations in the coming time.
Currently, the two countries maintain the Political Consultation mechanism at the Deputy Foreign Minister level (established in 2002), the most recent meeting being the 10th meeting (September 2022); the Vietnam-Mongolia Intergovernmental Committee on Economic-Trade, Scientific and Technological Cooperation (established in 1979, restored in 1996, and upgraded to the Ministerial level in 2012).
The two sides hold regular meetings every two years. So far, they have met 18 times, the most recent of which was held in Ulaanbaatar in September 2022.
Mongolia attaches great importance to its relations with Vietnam, considering Vietnam one of its most important partners in the Southeast Asian region. Vietnam also always attaches importance to its friendship, highly values the potential for development cooperation with Mongolia, and wishes to further deepen its traditional friendship with Mongolia.
The two countries actively cooperate in the fields of sending United Nations peacekeeping forces and military medicine.
Mongolia has helped Vietnam build a Mobile Mounted Police Corps. The two countries have also increased coordination and mutual support in international forums such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other regional organizations. This relationship is promoted on the basis of shared common interests in peace, development and stability.
Effective cooperation in many fields
Trade between the two countries has grown rapidly in recent years, with bilateral trade reaching 85 million USD in 2022; 132 million USD in 2023; and 65.5 million USD in the first 7 months of 2024. The two countries aim to soon increase bilateral trade to 200 million USD.
Vietnam mainly exports to Mongolia agricultural products and food, especially pharmaceuticals from Mekopharm, Bidipharm, Hau Giang, Saigon cigarettes, G7 coffee, dried pho, Saigon beer... and imports from Mongolia mainly white horse glue, sheep wool carpets, fine goat hair products, leather products, leather gloves.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Mongolia Nguyen Tuan Thanh, Vietnam-Mongolia relations are increasingly expanding and have great potential for development in many fields, especially in the fields of economics, trade and agriculture.
Trade between the two countries has grown rapidly in recent years, with bilateral trade reaching 85 million USD in 2022; 132 million USD in 2023; and 65.5 million USD in the first 7 months of 2024. The two countries aim to soon increase bilateral trade to 200 million USD.
Economically, the two sides can focus on areas of strength such as mining, steelmaking, import and export of agricultural products, processed foods, and livestock products.
Regarding tourism, due to differences in climate and geography, the two countries have tourism products that attract tourists from each other. Both countries aim to develop the tourism industry and have exempted visas for tourists, opened direct flights, creating favorable conditions for exploiting and developing tourism in the coming time, thereby promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
Agriculture is also a potential area for cooperation between the two countries. Mongolia has strengths in livestock farming, while Vietnam has strengths in crop cultivation and food production. The two countries can cooperate in exchanging technology, experience and agricultural products.
Vietnam and Mongolia can also promote cooperation in the fields of investment and technology exchange, especially in agriculture, animal husbandry and industrial production. This will create sustainable development opportunities for the two countries.
In addition, the two countries still have many potentials and advantages for cooperation in the fields of education and training, telecommunications, food processing, animal feed processing, pharmaceuticals, and mineral exploitation.
In education-training cooperation, student exchange between the two countries has been carried out since the 1960s. The two sides cooperate under the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Education signed between the two Governments.
According to the Agreement on Educational Cooperation for the period 2011-2016, Vietnam annually receives and trains 15 Mongolian students and Mongolia trains 5 Vietnamese students. From 2018, the two sides agreed to increase the quota by 5 and the scholarship level compared to the Agreement.
Regarding cultural cooperation, the cultural and social connection throughout the history of the relationship between the two countries has helped the people of the two countries understand each other better, unite and bond.
Mongolia installed a statue of President Ho Chi Minh and opened the Ho Chi Minh Cultural Center at High School No. 14 named after President Ho Chi Minh in the capital Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) in 2009.
Since 2014, Mongolia has regularly sent art troupes to participate in the Hue Festival. In 2022, Mongolia won a special prize (out of 888 international works) at the international competition Let's sing Vietnam - Let's sing Vietnam organized and awarded by VOV.
In September 2022, the music troupe led by Conductor Dong Quang Vinh visited and performed in Mongolia. In July 2023, the Vietnamese Embassy in Mongolia and Asia Art Link Vietnam jointly organized the Opening Ceremony of the Exhibition "Southern Wind - Vietnamese Painting Today" at the Mongol Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar.
This is the first time an art exhibition imbued with Vietnamese art and culture has been held in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. These meaningful cultural and artistic exchange activities have contributed to enhancing understanding of the country and people between the two countries.
The two countries have signed a visa exemption agreement for citizens of each country holding ordinary passports (November 2023), thereby contributing to enhancing people-to-people exchange activities.
Elevating bilateral relations
Building on the good relations over the past 70 years, General Secretary and President To Lam's state visit to Mongolia this time is of great significance.
This is the first State visit to Mongolia by a Vietnamese President in 16 years (since the official visit to Mongolia by President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2008), right on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.
During his State visit to Mongolia, General Secretary and President To Lam will discuss with senior Mongolian leaders major orientations and important measures to further strengthen political trust and enhance cooperation in many priority areas of both sides.
The 70th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Mongolia diplomatic relations is an important event in bilateral relations, marking the development of the long-standing traditional friendship with many cooperative achievements between the two sides in many fields.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, the State visit to Mongolia by General Secretary and President To Lam aims to continue affirming the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, proactiveness and activeness in comprehensive and extensive international integration, while also demonstrating the high regard of the Party and State of Vietnam for the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Mongolia, expressing the desire to promote relations with Mongolia in depth, substance, and effectiveness, in accordance with the new situation.
The visit takes place in the context of the two countries' relations being at their best stage of development. During this visit, General Secretary and President To Lam will discuss with senior Mongolian leaders major orientations and important measures to further strengthen political trust as well as enhance cooperation in many priority areas of both sides, especially political, diplomatic, economic, trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Mongolia Nguyen Tuan Thanh, the visit significantly contributed to orienting and opening up prospects for cooperation between the two countries, creating new momentum for bilateral relations in many fields, especially key areas such as trade, agriculture and transportation.
Specifically, regarding trade and logistics, the two countries agreed to find solutions to remove difficulties in the fields of logistics, rail, sea and air transport to increase the exchange of goods and bilateral trade in the coming time; agreed to promote cooperation in the field of agriculture, especially the export and quarantine of agricultural products such as goat and sheep meat from Mongolia and poultry meat and eggs from Vietnam.
According to the Ambassador, economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries will be promoted in a more practical, effective and comprehensive manner. Trade promotion activities and business cooperation connections will be enhanced and expanded; policies to improve the environment, encourage and protect investment will be strengthened to attract investment from both countries.
Areas such as transportation, labor, tourism, culture, and education will be promoted in a substantial and comprehensive manner. Scholarships from the two governments will also be expanded to meet the needs of students from both sides.
In addition, a number of other fields such as science, clean energy, renewable energy, and climate change response will also be enhanced and promoted./.
Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang and Mongolian Minister of National Defense Gürsediin Saikhanbayar witnessed the signing ceremony of the Agreement on delegation exchange between the two defense ministries, in Ulan Bator, October 26, 2023. (Photo: VNA)
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