Viet Nam, Belarus elevate bilateral ties to strategic partnership

The Joint Statement was issued following the summit meeting between General Secretary To Lam and Belarusian President A. Lukashenko in Minsk capital on May 12.

During the meeting, General Secretary To congratulated Lukashenko upon his re-election as the President of Belarus in January 2025, expressing his belief that Belarus will continue strong development momentum and further improve its position in the region and the world.

To affirmed Viet Nam always attaches importance to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Belarus, expressing his wish that the bilateral ties, founded by President Ho Chi Minh and Belarusian leaders, will continue to grow constantly for the benefits of the two nations.

Lukashenko, for his part, welcomed To's ongoing State visit to Belarus, emphasizing that this is the first visit to Belarus by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam over the last 11 years.

He spoke highly of Viet Nam's recent socio-economic development achievements, affirming that Viet Nam is a great friend and important partner of Belarus in Southeast Asia.

The two leaders briefed each other about recent situation in each country, expressing their pleasure at the good outcomes of bilateral cooperation across fields, including politics-diplomacy, security-defense, science and technology, education and training, culture, people-to-people exchange. They agreed on major orientations to deepen the bilateral ties in a practical and effective fashion.

The two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining contacts at all levels, especially high-level contacts and promoting the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms in accordance with the reality and conditions of each country.

The pair highly valued positive growth in bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation and agreed on measures to further exploit the opportunities from the free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union with Belarus as a member country.

Both sides agreed to expand cooperation to such potential areas like information technology, digital transformation, education and training, transport, culture, sports and tourism.

The two leaders affirmed that the signing of the agreement on visa exemption for holders of ordinary passports, which took effect on January 30, 2025, and the implementation of cultural cooperation programs will create favorable conditions to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in the time to come.

On multilateral aspect, the two leaders discussed regional and international issues of shared concern. They agreed to continue promoting the tradition of close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations.

General Secretary To affirmed Viet Nam stands ready to act as a bridge for Belarus to enhance cooperation with ASEAN. He suggested Belarus support Viet Nam and ASEAN's stance on the East Sea issue, underscoring the importance of settling disputes through peaceful means on the basis of the United Nations Charter and international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

To took the occasion to kindly invite President Lukashenko to soon visit Viet Nam and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure./.