Vietnamese Ambassador Talks About Historic Victories and Friendship with Belarus

Van Nghi Nguyen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Belarus Independence and sovereignty were gained at a high price for Vietnam; the long-suffering Vietnamese people endured all the hardships to build a strong state. The importance of this was noted to a BELTA correspondent by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Belarus Nguyen Van Nghi on holidays when the Vietnamese people celebrate the Day of Liberation of the South and Reunification of the Country (30 April 1975) and the 70th anniversary of the historic victory in Dien Bien Phu (7 May 1954), which led to the signing of the Geneva Accords on ending the war in Vietnam. The HEAD of the diplomatic mission spoke about the historical events that led to the final victory for independence.

"These two important events have laid the foundation for Vietnam to enter a new stage of building and developing a socially oriented state," the ambassador noted. "For more than 35 years of implementing the renewal policy, Vietnam has strived for the goal of "prosperous people, strong country, democracy, equality and civilization" and has achieved glorious victories and great achievements of historical significance."

Nguyen Van Nghi noted that at present, the level of Vietnam's economy has increased many times over, the standard of living of the population is rising, socio-political stability is maintained, and national defense and security are being strengthened.

"In 2023, GDP was estimated at $430 billion, and GDP per capita was $4,300. The socio-economic situation for the first three months of 2024 is characterized by positive results, indicating that the economy continues a positive recovery trend," the Vietnamese ambassador said. "The macroeconomy is generally stable, inflation is under control, and GDP in the first quarter increased by 5.66%, which is the highest first quarter growth in the past four years."

In addition, the diplomat emphasized the importance of the fact that tourism continues to actively recover, almost returning to pre-COVID levels. The number of foreign tourists in the first 3 months of 2024 reached 4.6 million, up 72% from the same period last year, and exceeding the number of visitors in the first quarter of 2019 (before the pandemic).

The Vietnamese people are not only a heroic, hardworking and hospitable country, but also a peace-loving state that seeks to be friends with all countries and peoples of the world.

"From a country under embargo, Vietnam has expanded and deepened relations with 194 countries and territories in the world, established comprehensive strategic partnership, strategic partnership or comprehensive partnership with more than 30 states, including all five permanent members of the UN Security Council," Nguyen Van Nghi continued.

The ambassador said that the country's position is increasingly strengthened and cited the following facts: "The international community has trusted Vietnam to assume many important international obligations in multilateral mechanisms, such as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (in the period 2020-2021, with a record number of support votes - 192 out of 193), Vice-President of the 77th UN General Assembly, member of the UN Human Rights Council (period 2023-2025), Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO, UN International Law Commission (2023-2027). Thus, Vietnam actively contributes to maintaining peace and security in the region and the world."

As General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong noted, "Vietnam has never had such an asset, opportunity, position and international prestige as it has today."

The ambassador emphasized: "Since gaining independence on September 2, 1945, and especially after the complete liberation of the South and the reunification of the country (1975), under the talented leadership of leader Ho Chi Minh, the wise and correct leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people have united on the revolutionary path, overcome countless difficulties, hardships and sacrifices in the name of protecting independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, freedom to choose their own path of development and respect for the rights of every person and have achieved a lot on the path of strengthening the independence, freedom and pursuit of happiness of the Vietnamese people."

At the same time, Nguyen Van Nghi said that Vietnam always remembers and appreciates the selfless support and assistance of many countries, friends of the international community, including the Soviet and Belarusian people, provided to it both during the war and in the peaceful construction and development of the country.

The ambassador touched on the relations between Vietnam and Belarus in detail, which have their roots in Soviet times. President Ho Chi Minh's visits to Belarus in 1957 and 1961 marked important events in relations between the two countries. During the Vietnam War, Belarusians were among the Soviet specialists who came to help Vietnam and shared its hardships. Belarus also helped Vietnam train thousands of students, postgraduates and workers, sent large quantities of technical equipment, and provided medical equipment and medicine to prevent epidemics.covid-19 , for which the Vietnamese are very grateful and never forget.

Nguyen Van Nghi believes that Vietnam and Belarus have a lot in common. "Both countries have gone through years of hard struggle to gain national independence, protect sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our peoples are peace-loving, hard-working, hospitable and have a strong will to rise. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on January 24, 1992, Vietnam and Belarus have maintained and developed relations of traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with growing political trust," the diplomat said.

The parties regularly exchange high-level and top-level delegations, creating a basis for the development of close, time-tested relations, cooperating in many areas - from national security and defense to economics, trade, culture, education, technology, interregional contacts and humanitarian exchanges.

The ambassador said: "The two countries have created a solid legal framework for developing and strengthening cooperation in various fields, including about 50 international treaties and interdepartmental agreements, 10 Vietnamese provincial-level entities have established friendly and cooperative relations with six regional-level entities of Belarus."

In the international arena, both countries adhere to similar positions, regularly consult and support each other in multilateral forums and mechanisms. Vietnam and Belarus are also members of the free trade agreement of the Eurasian Economic Union.

"However, the two countries still have great potential for further cooperation that can be used, especially in the economy, trade and investment," Nguyen Van Nghi said.

"Pursuing a foreign policy course on independence, self-sufficiency, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralism, diversification of international relations, active and positive international integration, being a friend, reliable partner, active and responsible member of the international community, Vietnam wishes to continue to strengthen and develop friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation with Belarus for the benefit of the two peoples, in the name of peace, cooperation and development and in accordance with the changing international and regional context," the head of the diplomatic mission said.

According to him, the highlights of bilateral trade and economic cooperation are such important cooperation projects as the joint venture for the production and assembly of MAZ-Asia trucks (commissioned in 2019) and the joint venture for the production of Au Viet dairy productsMILK .

"In 2023, the two countries jointly held the Belarusian Culture Day in Vietnam, the Belarusian Education Day in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese athletes team took part in the Second Commonwealth of Independent States Games in Belarus and left deep feelings and love in the hearts of Belarusian supporters. These successes can be perceived as bright flowers decorating the good relations between the two peoples," the Vietnamese Ambassador said.

He also continued: "The official visit to Vietnam of the Belarusian delegation led by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in December 2023 gave new impetus and moved bilateral relations to a new stage. Although there is still a lot of untapped potential. For example, in the trade and economic sphere, the strong EXPORT products of the two countries are complementary. Vietnam has many products such as rice,coffee , seafood, as well as textiles and clothing, which are well known on the world market. Belarus is known for its potash fertilizers, agricultural machinery, MEAT products, milk and many other high-quality products. That is, there are many points for product exchange."

The ambassador is convinced that one of the promising areas of cooperation is also tourism, especially after the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on a visa-free regime (it will enter into force after the completion of domestic legal procedures).

"Since Vietnam unilaterally abolished visas for citizens of Belarus in 2015, the number of Belarusian tourists in Vietnam has increased many times over, and well-known tourist destinations in Vietnam, such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, have begun to be explored by Belarusians. In turn, many Vietnamese tourists want to visit such famous sights of Belarus as the Nesvizh and Mir castle complexes, which are recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage, as well as the Brest Hero Fortress, Belovezhskaya Pushcha," the diplomat noted.

"Many Vietnamese who studied or worked in Belarus during the Soviet era also want to see your country again," he emphasized. "When the Agreement between Vietnam and Belarus on a visa-free regime and the Agreement between Belarus and RUSSIA on mutual recognition of visas come into force, the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling to Belarus and Russia will definitely increase."

"It is expected that in the coming months, both sides will hold many events to exchange delegations to implement the agreements reached during the official visit of Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko to Vietnam," Nguyen Van Nghi said. - It is hoped that the ministries, departments, regional authorities and businessmen of the two countries will establish active contacts with each other, taking into account mutual benefit.

" "Despite the difficult international and regional situation, there is reason to believe that Vietnamese-Belarusian relations will continue to develop, that we will overcome temporary difficulties and challenges in order to constantly strengthen cooperation in many areas and in the near future not only restore the dynamics and pre-COVID indicators, but also actively promote cooperation further for the benefit of the two peoples," Nguyen Van Nghi summed up.

Alina GRISHKEVICH,
BELTA.