Astana (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam met with Yerlan Koshanov, Speaker of the Mazhilis - the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, who is also Chairman of the ruling Amanat Party, in Astana on May 6 afternoon (local time).
At the meeting, which took place within the framework of the Party chief’s ongoing state visit to Kazakhstan, Koshanov expressed his deep affection for Vietnam and its people, and his admiration for the remarkable socio-economic achievements Vietnam has made over nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal) under the sound leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Koshanov affirmed Vietnam is an important partner of Kazakhstan in Southeast Asia, noting that all six political parties in Kazakhstan's lower house unanimously support the relations with Vietnam.
He affirmed that Party chief's state visit, with the elevation of the bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership, marks a historic turning point for the Vietnam – Kazakhstan ties. He also congratulated the Vietnamese leader on receiving the noble Order of Dostyk (Friendship) of the First Class.
The Speaker took this occasion to congratulate Vietnam on successfully organising celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification, stressing both countries and their parties share common goals and aspirations, which are to ensure the prosperity and happiness of their people. He stressed that these shared values have deepened the bilateral relations.
Lam, for his part, congratulated Kazakhstan on its significant achievements under the leadership of President Tokayev and the Amanat Party. He thanked the Kazakh people for their valuable support during Vietnam's past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in its present development process, expressing his hope for deeper bilateral cooperation across all sectors.
Both leaders agreed that parliamentary cooperation has developed positively, contributing significantly to the overall bilateral relations. The two sides have maintained high-level visits and contacts at multilateral parliamentary forums, while friendship parliamentary groups from both countries have arranged various activities connecting parliamentarians.
Lauding the role and reputation of the Amanat Party in Kazakhstan’s political and social life, Lam highlighted Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance and diversification of international relations, being a friend and trustworthy partner of other countries. He affirmed that the CPV wishes to maintain and promote sound relations with political parties in Kazakhstan, including the Amanat Party, in order to consolidate the political foundation for bilateral traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation.
The Vietnamese leader stressed that Kazakhstan is the first country in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam.
Both sides agreed to further enhance cooperation between the CPV and the Amanat Party, as well as between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the Mazhilis (lower house) of the Parliament of Kazakhstan in particular, and between the two countries in general. This will be done through strengthened political dialogue and increased delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level ones, in line with the new level of the relations. It is also necessary to promote cooperation between the two sides’ Party institutions and to forge stronger locality-to-locality connections.
Regarding parliamentary cooperation, the host and guest agreed to organise exchanges between specialised committees and friendship parliamentary groups, and to share experiences in legal supervision. Their legislative bodies will support and monitor the implementation of bilateral governmental agreements and continue close coordination at multilateral parliamentary forums.
The Speaker shared the Vietnamese Party chief's view that there remains huge potential for cooperation between the two countries and the need to actively develop bilateral relations across all fields, particularly in economy, trade, investment, transport, logistics, digital transformation, finance, science-technology, and education-training, for the benefit of their people.
Lam also suggested the Kazakh lower house continue to affirm the importance of maintaining peace, security, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, based on respect for international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as of peaceful settlement of disputes.
On this occasion, the Party chief invited his host to lead a high-level delegation of the Amanat Party to visit Vietnam soon. He also conveyed greetings and an invitation from Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to Koshanov to visit Vietnam at an early date, which he gladly accepted./.
