Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng in talk with First Deputy Chairman of the Uzbek Senate S. Safoev. — Photo nhandan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng visited Uzbekistan from March 3-4 for a political consultation, at the invitation of the host country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On March 4, Hằng and her Uzbek counterpart I. Khaydarov co-chaired the political consultation. Both sides provided updates on their respective countries' recent socio-economic development and expressed satisfaction with the positive progress in bilateral traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation.

The two deputy ministers agreed to continue working closely to strengthen the bilateral relations in all fields, capitalising on each other's potential and advantages to contribute to the development of both nations and their respective regions.

They underscored the importance of fostering exchanges via the Party, State, parliamentary and people-to-people diplomacy channels.

Trade between Việt Nam and Uzbekistan have shown growth, increasing by approximately 25 per cent per year since 2021. In 2024 alone, bilateral trade surpassed US$200 million, an annual rise of 26.5 per cent. However, both officials acknowledged that this figure remains modest, failing to catch up with potential and aspirations of the two nations. They agreed to further facilitate business and investment cooperation, particularly in the oil and gas, mining, and agricultural product processing sectors.

Additionally, they said it is necessary to bolster collaboration in science-technology, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation, education-training, culture, tourism, people-to-people exchanges, and locality-to-locality cooperation through research-sharing activities, cultural events, tourism promotion, scholarship programmes, and Vietnamese language courses at Uzbek universities.

The deputy ministers agreed to maintain regular political consultations and strengthen direct and online exchanges between the leaders of their ministries to coordinate and promote bilateral relations effectively.

Discussing global and regional issues, they commended Việt Nam’s and Uzbekistan's foreign policies of openness, balance, and diversification and multilateralisation. They acknowledged the rapidly evolving global landscape and agreed on the need for close coordination, regular exchanges of views, and mutual support in international organisations and multilateral forums, including the United Nations, for peace, stability, cooperation, and development.

Hằng affirmed Việt Nam’s readiness to serve as a bridge in enhancing ASEAN's relations with Uzbekistan, as well as with regional organisations of which Uzbekistan is a member.

She also expressed her gratitude to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for supporting the Vietnamese community living and working in the country and called for continued assistance. The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will work closely with the Uzbek ministry and relevant agencies to facilitate travel, residency, education, investment, and business opportunities for their citizens and coordinate efforts to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

During her visit, the Vietnamese diplomat also paid courtesy calls on Uzbek Minister of Foreign Affairs B. Saidov and First Deputy Chairman of the Uzbek Senate S. Safoev.

Saidov pledged to closely coordinate with the Vietnamese side in preparing for upcoming visits of high-ranking leaders of the two countries.

Meanwhile, Safoev affirmed Uzbekistan’s wish to strengthening ties with Việt Nam, including inter-parliamentary cooperation. He proposed Việt Nam establish a friendship parliamentary group to enhance legislative exchanges between the two nations.

Hằng also toured the Technopark industrial park in Tashkent, where the Uzbek side informing her of their interest in connecting with Vietnamese enterprises and future preferential policies to attract Vietnamese investors. — VNS