General Secretary To Lam holds talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev

General Secretary To, who is on a two-day State visit to Azerbaijan, made the above statement during his summit meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on May 7.

He said President Ho Chi Minh's visit to Azerbaijan in 1959 laid foundation for the bilateral relationship, which have been nurtured and promoted by mutual visits of the two countries' senior leaders.

Viet Nam considers Azerbaijan as an important partner in the region and wishes to further promote the bilateral ties in the time to come, affirmed To.

The Party chief took the occasion to express thanks for the valuable support of the Azerbaijani people for Viet Nam's past struggle for national liberation and unification as well as the current course of national construction and development.

President Ilham Aliyev warmly welcomed the General Secretary's ongoing State visit to Azerbaijan, expressing his belief that the visit would create a strong momentum for the two sides to expand bilateral cooperation in all fields for the benefits and prosperity of each country.

Aliyev recalled his good impressions on Vietnamese nation and people during his visit to Viet Nam in 2014 and congratulated Viet Nam on its remarkable achievements, dynamic development and rising international position.

The two leaders expressed their pleasure to note that over the past more than three decades, the Viet Nam-Azerbaijan relationship has achieved many major milestones, saying political and diplomatic ties have been maintained and enhanced, and bilateral cooperation in the energy sector promoted.

Given the current global situation, General Secretary To proposed solutions aimed at creating breakthroughs and fostering substantive, effective, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

He said the two sides should carry forward the coordinating role of the Intergovernmental Committee for economic-trade and scientific-technological cooperation, thereby implementing solutions to strengthen cooperation in new areas such as processing industries, machinery, and chemicals.

At the same time, the two countries should step up collaboration in energy and oil and gas, and information exchange, while working to seek investment opportunities, train human resources, as well as explore the potential for cooperation in clean energy and renewable energy sectors, the leader added.

He also stressed the need for businesses of the two countries to enhance information exchange and connectivity, and increase investments in each other's markets, particularly in the field of agriculture.

The leaders suggested Viet Nam and Azerbaijan promptly sign agreements on encouraging and protecting investment, and leverage strengths in the maritime transport and railway sectors, and enhance cooperation between their localities.

President Aliyev pledged that he will provide specific directions to promote relations in all areas, especially in economy, trade, and investment, saying that Azerbaijan hopes to cooperate with Viet Nam in logistics, seaport, railway, aviation, and renewable energy.

The President expressed his desire to attract more Vietnamese businesses to operate in Azerbaijan and committed to facilitating their operations.

The two leaders agreed to increase meetings and exchanges at all levels, especially at the high level, as well as among ministries, agencies, and localities, to foster mutual political trust.

They also agreed to effectively implement the cooperation agreement between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the New Azerbaijan Party, whose Chairman is President Aliyev, through exchanges at all levels, information and experience sharing, and coordination at major multilateral political party forums.

The leaders agreed on various measures and key directions to promote bilateral relations in economy, trade, energy, defense, security, education and training, culture, and people-to-people exchange.

Both stressed the historical significance of the adoption of the joint statement on the establishment of a Strategic Partnership during General Secretary To Lam's visit.

The new partnership framework will reinforce and enhance the existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms while paving the way for development of new frameworks to further deepen collaboration.

Regarding international and regional issues of shared concern, the leaders held that the two countries should continue their coordination at multilateral forums, particularly the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

Viet Nam is ready to act as a bridge for Azerbaijan to strengthen cooperation with other Southeast Asian countries, while Azerbaijan will serve as a bridge for Vietnam to enhance collaboration with Central Asia.

Both sides underscored the importance of resolving differences through peaceful means, in line with international law and the UN Charter. They also expressed support for ASEAN's stance on the East Sea issue, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

After the talks, General Secretary To and President Aliyev witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents and adopted the joint statement on the establishment of a Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and Azerbaijan./.