Party General Secretary Tô Lâm (middle), and Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly (Upper House) Natalya Kochanova (left), and Chairman of the House of Representatives of National Assembly (Lower House) Igor Sergeyenko at their meeting on May 12 in Minsk. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

MINSK — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm held separate meetings in Minsk on May 12 (local time) with Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly (Upper House) Natalya Kochanova, Chairman of the House of Representatives of NA (Lower House) Igor Sergeyenko, and leaders of the Communist Party and Belaya Rus Party.

Belarusian parliamentary leaders congratulated General Secretary Lâm on being awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples by President Alexander Lukashenko, in recognition of his major contributions to the Việt Nam - Belarus relationship. They described the visit by the Vietnamese Party chief as historic, highlighting that the agreements signed during the trip pave the way for a new chapter in bilateral ties.

General Secretary Lâm congratulated the Belarusian people on their achievements in national development and growing global stature. He underlined Việt Nam's standing appreciation for its traditional friendship with Belarus, which began 1957 with President Hồ Chí Minh’s visit. He expressed gratitude for Belarus’s sincere support during Việt Nam's past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in the ongoing development journey.

Both host and guest agreed to usher in a new phase of bilateral cooperation with specific measures. They pledged to increase the exchange of all-level delegations, boost two-way trade, foster ties across sci-tech, education - training, culture, and tourism, consider the early launch of direct flights, and promote people-to-people connection and locality-to-locality cooperation.

Regarding parliamentary and Party-to-Party cooperation, the two sides agreed to increase exchanges of parliamentary and Party delegations; enhance supervision over the implementation of the signed documents, particularly the Free Trade Agreement between Việt Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU); and bolster the sharing of information and experience in Party affairs, legislative work, and parliamentary activities.

They also agreed to step up exchanges between specialised committees, friendship parliamentary groups and young parliamentarians, support each other at multilateral forums of political parties and inter-parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and work towards initiating joint proposals at international parliamentary forums.

The Party leader expressed appreciation and hoped that the Belarusian National Assembly will continue to support the Vietnamese community in Belarus, enabling them to make positive contributions to the country’s development and the traditional friendship between the two nations.

On this occasion, Speaker of the Council of the Republic Natalya Kochanova, and Chairman of the House of Representatives Igor Sergeyenko conveyed their greetings and extended an invitation to Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn to visit Belarus at the earliest opportunity. General Secretary Lâm respectfully relayed Chairman Mẫn's regards and invitation to his hosts to visit Việt Nam in the near future. The Belarusian parliamentary leaders accepted the invitation with pleasure. — VNA/VNS