Astana (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam and his spouse, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, landed at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport on May 5 afternoon (local time), starting a three-day state visit to Kazakhstan at the invitation of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
President Tokayev was present at the airport to welcome the Vietnamese leader and delegation. Accompanying the President were Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, Deputy Prime Minister Yermek Kosherbayev, and a number senior officials of Kazakhstan.
Kazakh boys and girls in traditional attire presented flowers to the Vietnamese leader and his spouse. President Tokayev then invited his guests to walk on the red carpet flanked by two lines of honour guards standing at attention.
This marks the first state visit by a key Vietnamese leader to Kazakhstan in 13 years and the first ever by a CPV General Secretary.
The visit demonstrates Vietnam’s consistent policy and strong commitment to enhancing friendship and comprehensive cooperation with traditional partners in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Eastern Europe, including Kazakhstan.
Vietnam and Kazakhstan established diplomatic ties on June 29, 1992. Since then, their traditional friendship has steadily strengthened. Bilateral trade has been growing though the volume remains modest. In 2024, two-way trade reached 800 million USD, up 99% from 2023. In the first quarter of 2025, the figure hit 146.3 million USD, an increase of 18.4% year on year./.
