MINSK — President of Việt Nam Trần Đại Quang and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held talks in Minsk yesterday, reiterating their determination to bring bilateral ties to the next level. 

Quang stated that Việt Nam always attached importance to cementing friendship and co-operation with Belarus. 

For his part, President Alexander Lukashenko affirmed that his country considers Việt Nam an external priority in Asia, hailing the country’s efforts in hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic (APEC) Forum in 2017.

The leaders showed their delight at developments in the countries’ co-operation across the board and asserted resolve to develop bilateral friendship and co-operation in a comprehensive, practical and efficient manner. 

They agreed to maintain the regular exchange of visits, especially high-ranking ones, to reinforce political trust along with boosting State, parliament, sector and locality links and collaboration at multilateral forums like the UN and the Non-aligned Movement to protect their countries’ interests and security. 

The Presidents reached consensus on various solutions to further bilateral economic, trade and investment co-operation. 

They discussed co-ordination to implement the free trade agreement between Việt Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union and the protocol on the production of motored transport vehicles in Việt Nam, aiming for a breakthrough in bilateral economic and trade co-operation, supporting the effort to bring two-way trade to US$500 million in the next two years,

They also agreed to studying expanding co-operation in agriculture, a collaboration area still untapped by the two countries. 

The two Presidents said they were glad that the two countries’ first vehicle manufacturing joint venture is being set up and is expected to be operational this year. 

They agreed to continue efforts to carry out co-operation programmes in economics, science, education and culture reached for 2016-18, to continue defence-security affiliations and to facilitate win-win co-operation between localities. 

President Quang hailed Belarus for organising Belarus Cultural Days in Hà Nội and Lào Cai in May and wished that both sides would conduct more cultural and sport exchanges. 

The leaders praised the efforts made by both sides in making it easy for their citizens’ entry and exit and promoting tourism links. 

The Vietnamese President said he expected that Belarus will continue helping the Vietnamese community integrate into its society and contribute to strengthening ties between the two peoples. 

Regarding international issues, they shared common viewpoints on many regional and global matters, emphasising the central role of the UN in safeguarding international peace and security and sustainable development. 

Lukashenko asserted his backing of Việt Nam’s position on tackling territorial disputes, including those in the East Sea by peaceful measures without using force or threat to use force, with the participation of all sides concerned. He said he welcomes efforts to soon achieve a code of conduct in the East Sea.  

He expressed his belief that the visit to Belarus by President Quang would boost Việt Nam-Belarus co-operation across sectors, providing a solid foundation for bilateral ties to reach a new height, meeting their people’s aspiration and interest, for peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region and the world. 

Quang invited President Alexander Lukashenko to visit Việt Nam in the future. 

Following the talks, the Presidents signed a joint statement on developing the partnership between Việt Nam and Belarus. 

They witnessed the signing of nine co-operative documents, including a protocol on amending the protocol between the Governments of Việt Nam and Belarus on supporting the production of motored transport vehicles in Việt Nam, and those covering science and technology, military technology, sport and physical training, geology and locality co-operation. — VNS