Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosts Chairman of EAEU Board

The EAEU comprises five member states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. Sagintayev, a Kazakh national, serves as Chairman of the Board under the rotating mechanism among the member countries.

Pham hailed the role of the EAEU Board and its Chairman in promoting the implementation of the commitments under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Viet Nam and the EAEU in recent years.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need to further advance the Viet Nam–EAEU relations via specific agreements and cooperation projects, leverage the Viet Nam–EAEU FTA, further open markets and promote trade and investment ties.

He called on the EAEU member countries to consider increasing quotas for Vietnamese exports, and boost the import of Viet Nam's key products such as agricultural goods, seafood, and electronics.

The Prime Minister suggested the exploration of models for developing supply chains, maritime and railway transport, and logistics to enhance goods exchange between Viet Nam and the Central Asian region and individual EAEU member states, adding that Viet Nam is currently building standard-gauge railway connectivity with China, which would further link to Central Asia.

He called for maintaining and strengthening high-level exchanges, fostering tourism cooperation and people-to-people links, enhancing collaboration in science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation, expanding cooperation in mineral sector and advancing human resource and cadre training.

Regarding cooperation with Kazakhstan, Pham urged both sides to concretize and actively implement the outcomes of recent high-level visits, further promote bilateral cooperation, especially in economics, trade, and investment, and step up the exchange of experience in developing international financial centers.

Viet Nam will open a trade office in Central Asia, headquartered in Kazakhstan, shared Pham, proposing the two sides explore the possibility of launching more direct air routes between Viet Nam and Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

For his part, Sagintayev consented with the Prime Minister's proposals, pledging to foster stronger ties between Viet Nam and the EAEU, as well as between Viet Nam and Kazakhstan, and jointly work to resolve obstacles in cooperation.

The two sides vowed to organize events in 2026 to mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Viet Nam–EAEU FTA and boost cooperation in digital transformation.

After 10 years of implementing the FTA between Viet Nam and the EAEU, bilateral import-export turnover increased by nearly 30 percent annually during the 2017–2018 period, peaking at over US$6.3 billion in 2021 and nearly US$6 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent./.