General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Tô Lâm and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko at their meeting in Minsk on May 12. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

MINSK — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Tô Lâm and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko have signed a joint statement officially establishing a strategic partnership between Việt Nam and Belarus, during the Vietnamese leader’s state visit on May 11–12.

According to the statement, the Việt Nam – Belarus relationship is founded on shared interests and adherence to the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter. These principles include respect for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of all nations as well as of each country’s political system, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, mutual respect for national interests, and a commitment to peace, security, cooperation, and development.

The strategic partnership framework is set to elevate bilateral relations to a new level both bilaterally and multilaterally, strengthen existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and encourage the establishment of new forms of collaboration.

In the document, Việt Nam and Belarus affirmed their intent to deepen joint work across a wide range of fields to safeguard national interests and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity in the regions and the world.

In the political and diplomatic sphere, both sides agreed to increase all-level contacts and delegation exchanges across the party, state channels and via the inter-parliamentary cooperation framework and people-to-people exchanges, while improving the effectiveness of existing mechanisms and exploring new forms of collaboration between their ministries, sectors, and localities.

They expressed their wish to enhance ties between the CPV and Belarusian political parties through regular delegation exchanges and issue-based cooperation. The two countries also committed to strengthening parliamentary relations and updating the legal framework governing inter-parliamentary collaboration in line with current circumstances.

Both nations agreed to maintain regular deputy foreign minister-level political consultations, promote exchanges on bilateral cooperation, foreign policy, and regional and international issues of mutual concern, while exploring the possibility of establishing multilateral dialogue mechanisms.

In terms of defence and security, Việt Nam and Belarus pledged to promote delegation exchanges, share expertise, and enhance collaboration in defence industry and the training of military personnel and experts. They also voiced their intent to strengthen interaction between their security and police forces, boost intelligence sharing, combat transnational crime, and coordinate analysis and forecasting on issues affecting the countries’ national security and interests.

The joint statement underscored economic cooperation as a key pillar of bilateral relations, with both sides agreeing to strengthen the role of the Việt Nam – Belarus intergovernmental committee on economic, trade, scientific, and technical cooperation. They encouraged the establishment of its specialised sub-committees to assess the implementation of current agreements and explore new cooperation opportunities.

Việt Nam and Belarus expressed their readiness to create favourable conditions for their business communities and investors to engage in market exploration, product introduction, investment and trade promotion, as well as joint production and business activities. They said they are willing to foster substantive, effective, and comprehensive economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as industry, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy, science-technology, and information-communications. They also agreed to expand collaboration into potential sectors including logistics, the digital economy, digital transformation, and other fields.

Việt Nam and Belarus agreed to strengthen agricultural cooperation under existing agreements, focusing on policy dialogue, development orientations, and legal frameworks for exporting each side’s key agricultural products. The countries also pledged to support hi-tech research and application in agriculture and expand market access for each other's agricultural, forestry, and fishery products to boost bilateral trade.

To foster economic ties and ensure stable trade growth, the two sides aim to develop bilateral trade infrastructure, including logistics, transport and transshipment. They will enhance interbank cooperation, simplify market access, and remove trade barriers. Implementation challenges will be addressed through constructive dialogue.

The two countries highlighted the importance of an open, fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory trade and investment environment based on international rules. They reaffirmed their commitment to actively and effectively implementing and maximising advantages created by the 2015 Việt Nam – Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement, facilitating investors' business expansion, and improving access to ASEAN and EAEU markets.

In science, technology, digital transformation, and transport, the two sides agreed to advance the implementation of the agreements reached within the framework of the Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation. Areas of focus include high technology, digital technology, and innovation research and development, the peaceful use of atomic energy, and nuclear radiation safety. Both sides will also step up sharing policies and orientations on digital infrastructure and industrial digitalisation, while deepening collaboration in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and information security.

Universities, research institutes, and businesses will be encouraged to work together on creating and modernising products to promote digital transformation and develop new technologies. The two countries will boost measures for promoting security and integrity in research in accordance with both sides' laws to prevent third-party exploitation of joint research outcomes.

Both sides will share expertise in developing rail, road, air and maritime sectors, and promote air transport cooperation under the 2007 intergovernmental agreement.

In education, labour, justice, legal protection, and environmental affairs, the two countries agreed to fruitfully implement the 2023 intergovernmental agreement on educational cooperation, including scholarships, academic exchanges, and training of high-level professionals. They also reaffirmed their commitment to effectively carrying out the 2011 agreement on labour exchanges between the two nations.

Cooperation in justice and legal protection will be reinforced under the existing agreements, including the 1999 cooperation deal between the countries' justice ministries, the 2000 agreement on mutual judicial and legal assistance in civil, family, and criminal matters, and the 2023 prisoner transfer agreement.

Việt Nam and Belarus pledged joint action on climate change response, including desertification prevention and land greening. They will explore the possibility of the exchange of one country's crops suited to the other’s soil conditions while considering joint projects to mitigate climate impacts, protect the environment, and promote green growth.

With regard to culture, sports, tourism, and people-to-people exchange, both sides agreed to broaden cultural cooperation by sharing information, photos, and materials showcasing each country's socio-economic and cultural achievements to deepen mutual understanding and foster direct contact between cultural establishments. They will jointly design and carry out cultural exchange and promotion programmes, including organising Cultural Days in each other’s territories. Plans also include facilitating mutual visits for cultural, art and sports events, as well as effectively implementing cultural cooperation programmes.

They also expressed their willingness to increase cooperation in the restoration and preservation of historical and cultural relics, as well as intangible heritage. To boost tourism, they vowed to step up popularising both sides' tourism potential and advantages, share policy expertise, and exchange best practices in tourism management.

In the sphere of people-to-people diplomacy, Việt Nam and Belarus aim to deepen mutual understanding through mass organisations and social associations. They plan to promote friendship exchanges by forging new twinning agreements between localities, increasing direct flight connections, and expanding the scope of collaboration between friendship organisations.

The countries acknowledged the importance of the visa exemption agreement for ordinary passport holders, signed in 2023, noting that it will considerably facilitate people-to-people exchanges in the coming time.

Both sides affirmed their willingness to strengthen the exchange of views, expand and deepen cooperation, and closely coordinate their stance, as well as consider supporting each other at international organisations and regional and multilateral forums, such as the United Nations, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), BRICS, ASEAN, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the Non-Aligned Movement, and other organisations and other groups of countries.

They vowed to enhance consultations and coordinate their approaches to regional and international issues, and support effective international responses to both traditional and non-traditional security challenges, including epidemics, climate change, terrorism, transnational crime, cybercrime, and issues related to food, energy, and water security, as well as other matters of mutual concern.

The two sides highlighted the universality and integrity of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) as the legal framework for all activities in the seas and oceans. They affirmed the need to maintain the integrity of the Convention and international legal documents adopted to further develop its provisions.

They emphasised the important role of UNCLOS 1982 in promoting peace, security, cooperation, and friendly relations among all nations in the maritime domain, as well as in ensuring that all seas and oceans are used for economic purposes and other peaceful uses, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations as set out in the UN Charter.

The two sides agreed to coordinate to ensure security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, and trade; support restraint, not use force or threat to use force, and resolve disputes by peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the UNCLOS 1982.

Both sides also support the full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (East Sea, as called in Việt Nam) (DOC), and welcome efforts to soon conclude a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the waters (COC) that is consistent with international law, including UNCLOS 1982.

Both sides will actively support and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Belarus to contribute to the traditional friendship and Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

The Foreign Ministers of the two both countries will work with relevant ministries and agencies to develop a plan (roadmap) for advancing cooperation between Việt Nam and Belarus as soon as possible in order to achieve the goals outlined in the joint statement. — VNS