Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) share a strong demand to deepen cooperation in the new phase, underpinned by high political trust and significant untapped potential, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and visiting Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Bakytzhan Sagintayev affirmed at their meeting in Hanoi on March 2.
The EAEU comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Sagintayev, a citizen of Kazakhstan, currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the board.
The two sides welcomed the positive outcomes recorded over the decade since the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Southeast Asian nation and the bloc. Bilateral trade grew at an average annual rate of nearly 30% during 2017 – 2018, peaked at over 6.3 billion USD in 2021, and reached nearly 6 billion USD in 2025, up 5% compared with 2024.
PM Chinh stressed the need to further promote the relations through concrete agreements and cooperation projects, and to make fuller use of the FTA by opening markets more widely and encouraging trade and investment flows. He underlined the importance of leveraging complementary strengths in a spirit of solidarity, cooperation for resources, exchange for trust, balanced benefits, and shared risks.
He called for the effective implementation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms to promptly address technical obstacles, and urged EAEU member states to consider lifting safeguard measures and increasing quotas on certain Vietnamese exports, particularly agricultural produce, seafood and electronics.
The PM also proposed exploring new models of supply chain development and enhancing maritime, rail and logistics connectivity to boost trade between Vietnam and Central Asia, as well as individual EAEU member states.
Vietnam is currently promoting standard-gauge railway connections with China, which could extend onwards to Central Asia, he added.
He further suggested reviewing and adjusting provisions of the FTA to better reflect the evolving global context, based on a comprehensive assessment of its implementation to date, ensuring substantive and balanced benefits for all parties.
In addition, he emphasised the importance of maintaining high-level exchanges, expanding tourism and people-to-people contacts, and strengthening cooperation in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, mineral resources and human resources training.
Highlighting the robust development of relations between Vietnam and Kazakhstan, the Government leader called for closer follow-up to high-level visit outcomes and for intensified economic, trade and investment cooperation, including experience sharing in developing international financial centres.
Vietnam plans to open a trade representation office for Central Asia based in Kazakhstan and has proposed studying the launch of direct flights between the country and Astana, the Kazakh capital.
For his part, Chairman Sagintayev commended Vietnam’s impressive achievements in sustaining economic growth and macroeconomic stability. He expressed confidence that relations between the nation and the EAEU would continue to consolidate and expand, noting that all member states are keen to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam. He also affirmed the promising outlook for Vietnam–Kazakhstan ties.
The chairman called for further strengthening the role of the joint committee on the implementation of the EAEU-Vietnam FTA.
Agreeing with the host’s proposals, he pledged to actively promote cooperation between Vietnam and the EAEU as well as Kazakhstan, including efforts to resolve outstanding issues and advance the establishment of direct air links between Vietnam and all EAEU member states.
Both sides agreed to organise activities this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the FTA and to step up cooperation in digital transformation./.
