72nd anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day marked in Belarus

Speaking at the ceremony, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Belarus Le Anh emphasized that the country and people of Vietnam have experienced nearly three quarters of the century full of difficulties, but also struggled resolutely to defend independence as well as build the country to be more and more developed.

Belarus and Vietnam have a lot of historical similarities, with a traditional friendship since the years of Vietnamese people struggling to defend independence and territorial integrity. On this occasion, he expressed his sincere thanks to Belarusian veterans for helping the Vietnamese people during the war years against the enemies.

The Ambassador affirmed that the two countries now continue to cooperate in all fields, especially security, national defence, foreign affairs and trade economy.

The most important event in 2017 was the visit of President Tran Dai Quang to Belarus in June, with many agreements signed between the two sides. After the visit, many delegations from Vietnamese ministries and sectors visited and worked in Belarus and vice versa.

In the first six months of the year, the two-way trade increased by 30% over the previous year and is expected to reach over USD200 million in 2017. The joint venture manufacturing MAZ automobiles between the two countries will be launched late this year in Hai Duong province, opening the opportunity to increase the two-way trade turnover, which is expected to reach USD500 million by 2018.

At the event, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Davkunas A.V emphasized that the ministries and businesses of the two countries need to strive further so that the agreements reached through high-level visits will be put in operation early, especially after the Free Trade Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam took effect in October 2016.

During the ceremony, the delegates enjoyed an art program and dishes of the two countries./.