Hanoi (VNA) – As part of his working trip to Kazakhstan, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh met on February 2 with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin to discuss concrete steps to implement the Strategic Partnership framework established during General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam’s visit to Kazakhstan in May last year.
Zhumangarin congratulated General Secretary Lam on the success of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, expressing confidence that Vietnam would achieve its long-term development goals and further enhance its international standing.
Binh briefed the Kazakh side on the outcomes of the congress, Vietnam’s foreign policy guideline, and major orientations for socio-economic development in the coming period. He noted that Vietnam has identified the development of an international financial centre as a new driver for rapid and sustainable growth in the new era.
Building on three decades of positive relations, the two sides agreed on several measures to advance bilateral cooperation. In trade, they will establish a Vietnam–Kazakhstan Business Council in 2026 and work to increase bilateral trade turnover. Kazakhstan may expand exports to Vietnam of products in which it has strengths, including flour, beef and cooking oil, alongside wheat shipments already recorded in 2025.
Zhumangarin stressed that Kazakhstan is ready to serve as a “golden gateway” for Vietnam to access Central Asian and European markets, while expressing his hope that Vietnam would become a “golden gateway” for Kazakhstan to Southeast Asia.
He further stated that Kazakhstan plans to open a consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and organise Kazakhstan Cultural Week in Vietnam in connection with upcoming bilateral cooperation activities. The Kazakh side thanked Vietnam for its support at multilateral forums, and both countries agreed to continue backing each other’s candidacies at international organisations.
Binh proposed increasing high-level and all-level exchanges to strengthen the political foundation for expanding cooperation from traditional areas into new fields such as technology, green transition, digital transformation and, in particular, cooperation between the two international financial centres.
Regarding financial connectivity, he expected Kazakhstan to promote linkages between regulatory bodies, exchanges, issuers and investors of the two countries. Zhumangarin welcomed Vietnam’s plan to establish an international financial centre, affirming Kazakhstan’s readiness to facilitate cooperation between the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and Vietnam’s future hub, as well as share its experience in developing such a centre.
The same day, the Vietnamese Deputy PM visited the AIFC, where he was briefed on its structure and operations. Binh expressed his wish for stronger connections between the AIFC and Vietnam’s international financial centre, helping form an inter-regional financial corridor given their similarities in model and operational structure.
Also on February 2, Binh met with CEO of Kazakhstan’s National Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna Nurlan Zhakupov to further promote business community linkages, especially in areas with strong cooperation potential.
The Vietnamese Deputy PM proposed that Samruk-Kazyna cooperate in developing value chains and strengthening economic-financial connectivity between the two countries and with global markets, thereby boosting investment and business cooperation in the time ahead. He suggested that enterprises under the fund’s management explore investment opportunities in Vietnam, particularly in the international financial centre and potential fields such as energy, mining and telecommunications./.
