Vietnamese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nguyen Thanh Son on April 19 presented his credentials to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev who pledged to continue assisting the Vietnamese community in the country and granting more scholarship to Vietnamese students.

The Azerbaijan leader expressed his delight at the dynamic development of ties between the two countries over the past years, agreeing that both sides should promote cooperation in traditional areas of oil and gas as well as education and training.

He said he is looking forward to President Truong Tan Sang’s State visit to Azerbaijan this May.

Ambassador Son said President Truong Tan Sang hopes that his visit will create a new momentum for bilateral ties.

He stressed that the Vietnamese people always bear in mind the warm sentiments and support of late President Heydar Aliyev gave to the country.

The diplomat thanked the Azerbaijani President and Government for backing the Vietnamese community in integrating into the host society.

Vietnam and Azerbaijan set up diplomatic ties in 1950. Azerbaijan opened its Embassy in Hanoi in 2013.

The two countries have maintained regular high-level delegation exchanges as well as bilateral meetings on the margin of regional and international forums. President Ilham Aliyev visited Vietnam last May, while Party Politburo member and Permanent member of the Party Central Committee Le Hong Anh toured Azerbaijan in October the same year.

Last year, two-way trade reached 422.4 million USD, nearly 15 times the figure of 2012. Vietnam mainly exported mobile phone, computers, electronic spare parts, wooden products and seafood to Azerbaijan, while importing crude oil and petrol of all kinds.

Oil and gas is the key pillar in bilateral cooperation, with Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group opening a representative office in Azerbaijan in 2010.

Currently, about 40 Vietnamese people are working and studying in Azerbaijan.-VNA