Vietnam treasures its traditional friendship with Azerbaijan, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nguyen Thanh Son on April 20.

During his working session with Azerbaijani high-level officials in Baku, Son expressed his hope that the two nations would enhance cooperation in their respective advantageous fields, such as oil and gas exploration and processing, education and training, and tourism.

The upcoming visit of Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang to the country aims to bring bilateral ties between Vietnam and Azerbaijan to a new height, Son reiterated.

Meanwhile, the hosting representatives affirmed that Vietnam is a priority Asian partner of Azerbaijan, highlighting the two nations’ mutual understanding and shared viewpoint on many international issues.

They underlined the huge potential and favourable conditions for promoting bilateral ties between the two countries, especially in economics and trade, as well as the mutual support in the international arena.

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 and Party Politburo member and Permanent member of the Party Central Committee Le Hong Anh toured Azerbaijan in October of the same year.

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

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.

About 40 Vietnamese nationals are currently working or studying in Azerbaijan.-VNA