Vietnam, Belarus seek all-round co-operation

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong (L) and Belarus Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Rybakov (Source: VNA)

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong suggested Vietnam and Belarus increase technological transfers and establish joint ventures in order to strengthen their economic and trade ties.

The official made the appeal at the 12th meeting of the Vietnam-Belarus Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technological Co-operation in Minsk on October 26-27.

During the working session, the two sides agreed to attract investors in key projects in the two countries, from agriculture, industry and construction to finance-banking, science, technology, healthcare and education.

They will also expand co-operation in other realms such as information-communications, culture, sports and tourism. The two countries’ individual localities will also work together.

Participants reviewed remarkable strides in the multi-faceted collaboration between Vietnam and Belarus, including the implementation of agreements on free trade, industry, goods and services reached at the 11 th meeting.

In the industrial sphere, the two countries deployed lorry assembling projects and studied the establishment of Belarus’s bus assembly enterprises in Vietnam.

Belarus increased its exports of tires, pharmaceutical products, alcoholic beverages, milk, food and industrial products to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Vietnam shipped traditional products like coffee, tea, nuts, instant noodles, candies and seasoning to the Eastern European nation.

The two sides implemented a number of joint projects on science, technology and education.

They agreed to work together to implement the committee’s plans, and said that a handful of projects had yet to be carried out adequately.

The free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) inked in Kazakhstan last May would inject more momentum into economic links between Vietnam and Belarus after the deal took effect.

They’ll hold the 13 th meeting in Vietnam in the second half of 2016.

Statistics showed that trade turnover between Vietnam and Belarus quadrupled during the 2005-2014 period, from 42.4 million USD to 169.3 million USD.

In the first eight months of this year, the figure stood at 95.8 million USD. Belarus’s export revenue made up 75.5 million USD of the total.

The two countries’ relevant agencies are working to prepare for Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s visit to Vietnam in this December.-VNA