Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Võ Văn Thưởng (L) and Chairman of the Mazhilis of the Kazakhstan Parliament (lower house) Nurlan Nigmatulin.—VNA/VNS Photo

MOSCOW — Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Võ Văn Thưởng has led a Party delegation to visit Kazakhstan from September 16 to 18.
During his trip, Thưởng attended a series of meetings with high-ranking officials of the ruling Party, Government and parliament of Kazakhstan, including First Deputy Chairman of the ruling Nur Otan Party Bauyrzhan Baibek; Chairman of the Mazhilis of the Parliament (lower house) Nurlan Nigmatulin; Secretary of State Marat Tazhin; First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi; and leaders of the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan (KNPK).
The Kazakhstan officials affirmed that based on a memorandum of understanding on cooperation signed between the Communist Party of Việt Nam and Nur Otan Party in November 2018, the visit will create an important momentum in consolidating and reinforcing the friendship and collaboration between the two countries and their ruling parties. 
Both sides took the occasion to discuss measures to enhance such ties in the coming time.
They said bilateral politic relations have grown robustly over time via exchanges of high-level visits and mutual support and coordination at the UN and international/regional forums. 
They added that the two countries’ economy-trade-investment cooperation is also making progress, particularly after a free trade agreement between Việt Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Kazakhstan is a member, took effect in October 2016.
The sides, however, stressed bilateral trade still falls short of potential, requiring Vietnam and Kazakhstan to invest more efforts to exploit the strength and the needs of each other.
Talking about international/regional affairs, Thưởng informed the Kazakhstan side on the current complicated developments in the East Sea. He affirmed Việt Nam’s consistent stance of resolving disputes at sea using peaceful measures in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 
Kazakhstan officials expressed their concern over the situation and supported Vietnam’s stance, for ensuring security, safety, as well as free navigation and overflight in the waters.—VNS