General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee To Lam and his spouse, accompanied by a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, are paying state visits to the Republic of Kazakhstan; an official visit to the Russian Federation, where they will attend the 80th anniversary celebration of the Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War; and a state visit to the Republic of Belarus from May 5 to 12. 

Party General Secretary To Lam and his spouse. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

The visits are made at the invitations of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The visits convey a strong message of Viet Nam's respect, sincere affection, and loyalty to its traditional friends — former Soviet Union countries — in recognition of their heartfelt support and assistance during Viet Nam’s struggles for national defence and development. They also reflect Viet Nam's desire to promote long-term, effective, substantive, and mutually beneficial cooperation with the four countries. The visits are a clear testament to Viet Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, and multilateralisation, as well as its proactive, active, and effective international integration in a comprehensive and deep manner.

The visits mark a significant milestone in Viet Nam's relations with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus. This is General Secretary To Lam’s first state visit to Kazakhstan and the highest-level visit by a key Vietnamese leader to Kazakhstan in the past 13 years — the first ever at the level of General Secretary. For Azerbaijan, this is the first time the country has welcomed a Party leader from Viet Nam since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 1992, and the first top-level exchange between the two countries in a decade. This is also General Secretary To Lam’s first visit to Belarus in his current position, and the first visit by a Vietnamese Party General Secretary to Belarus in 11 years.

This is Party chief To Lam’s first official visit to the Russian Federation in his current role and the first such visit by a Vietnamese Party General Secretary in seven years. The visit affirms the importance of the long-standing friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia, which remains one of the top priorities in Viet Nam’s foreign policy. It also demonstrates Viet Nam's deep appreciation for the great contributions and sacrifices of the former Soviet Union in the victory over fascism, ending World War II, and steadfastly defending global peace. The first stop on the General Secretary’s overseas mission is Kazakhstan. In recent years, the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and Kazakhstan have developed positively.

In political and diplomatic affairs, the two sides have maintained regular exchanges of delegations and high-level contacts, while coordinating closely at multilateral forums and international organisations, especially at the United Nations. Kazakhstan has affirmed its view of Vietnam as an important partner in Southeast Asia. The Communist Party of Viet Nam maintains relations with Kazakhstan’s ruling Amanat Party and the People’s Party of Kazakhstan. Both sides are working towards upgrading their bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership.

Political trust continues to serve as a strong foundation for the sustained growth of bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation between Viet Nam and its traditional partners. Kazakhstan is currently Viet Nam’s second-largest trading partner within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), while Viet Nam ranks as Kazakhstan’s second-largest trading partner in ASEAN. In 2024, two-way trade turnover reached 800 million USD, marking a remarkable 99% increase over the previous year. Through Kazakhstan, Viet Nam is well-positioned to enhance its cooperation with the EAEU, open new avenues for economic and transport connectivity with Central Asia, and thereby gain greater access to European markets.

In addition, cooperation in culture, tourism, education and training, transport, energy, local-level partnerships, and people-to-people exchanges has also been actively maintained and strengthened. The two countries launched their first official direct flight route in November 2022, and the number of direct flights connecting popular tourist cities from both nations has steadily increased. The number of Kazakhstani visitors to Viet Nam has risen sharply, reaching 150,000 arrivals in 2024.

Viet Nam-Azerbaijan relations have also received significant attention and promotion in recent years. The Communist Party of Viet Nam maintains a positive relationship with Azerbaijan's ruling New Azerbaijan Party. In the realm of economic and trade ties, two-way trade turnover reached nearly 52 million USD in 2024. The two countries maintain an Intergovernmental Committee mechanism for cooperation in economic, trade, scientific, and technical fields. While cooperation in defence, science and technology, education and training, and culture and tourism remains modest, it holds great potential for development. Both sides are considering opening direct flight routes between major tourist destinations and establishing a direct cargo transport route between the two countries.

Viet Nam and Azerbaijan share abundant potential for further cooperation, especially in the oil and gas sector, where both nations have longstanding traditions and expertise. The Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed a strategic cooperation agreement in 2010, and have since regularly implemented contracts for crude oil supply to the Dung Quat Refinery in Viet Nam. With this solid foundation and mutual interest, the two countries have promising prospects for expanding trade and creating breakthroughs in oil and gas cooperation, as well as in the training of human resources for the oil and gas sector.

One of the most significant highlights of the current working trip by General Secretary To Lam and his spouse, accompanied by a high-level Vietnamese delegation, is the official visit to the Russian Federation and participation in the 80th anniversary celebration of the Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on January 30, 1950, Viet Nam and the former Soviet Union — now the Russian Federation — have built their bilateral ties on a solid foundation of camaraderie and mutual support during the difficult years of national liberation and post-war reconstruction. The strong bond that exists today between Viet Nam and Russia is a continuation of the friendship and solidarity cultivated by generations of leaders and peoples of both nations over the past 75 years.

Building on that tradition, political and diplomatic relations between the two countries have been continuously strengthened. The Communist Party of Viet Nam maintains close relations with key political parties in Russia, including United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth. Recent high-level visits by leaders of both countries have served as strong drivers for deepening bilateral cooperation.

The two-way trade between Viet Nam and Russia reached 4.58 billion USD in 2024, up 26.1% compared to 2023. Oil and gas, and energy cooperation, remain major pillars of the partnership. Both sides are negotiating the signing of intergovernmental agreements and protocols in the fields of geological exploration and oil and gas extraction, while also expressing interest in reviving cooperation in nuclear energy and the development of nuclear power in Viet Nam.

Cooperation between Viet Nam and Russia has also yielded significant results in the areas of defence-security, education and training, science and technology, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. The General Secretary’s official visit to Russia is expected to enhance mutual political trust, consolidate the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, and expand bilateral cooperation in traditional fields such as trade-investment, oil and gas, and industry. At the same time, it aims to promote collaboration in emerging areas with great potential, including nuclear energy, renewable energy, high technology, artificial intelligence, fundamental science, and biomedical research.

The final stop of General Secretary To Lam’s trip is Belarus. Belarusian senior leaders have repeatedly affirmed their view of Viet Nam as an important partner in Southeast Asia and expressed the desire to strengthen cooperation in traditional sectors while expanding into promising new fields. The Communist Party of Viet Nam has maintained traditional relations with the Communist Party of Belarus and has also engaged with the Belaya Rus political party.

In the economic, trade, and investment spheres, the two countries maintain an Intergovernmental Committee mechanism, with annual bilateral trade volume reaching approximately 100 million USD. Defence-security and military-technical cooperation have been bolstered through the annual rotating meetings of the Viet Nam–Belarus Joint Committee on Military-Technical Cooperation, which also facilitates information exchange, experience sharing, and training, capacity-building, and technology transfer.

Bilateral relations have also achieved positive results in other fields such as science and technology, education and training, culture, sports, tourism, transportation, and local-to-local cooperation, with ample potential for growth based on the implementation of signed agreements.

The working trip by General Secretary To Lam, his spouse, and the high-level Vietnamese delegation underscores Viet Nam's strong commitment to creating new momentum for its comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, and to elevating its relations with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus to new heights. May the top leader’s visit be a great success, serving as a powerful catalyst to deepen the friendship and cooperation between Viet Nam and these countries, bringing tangible benefits and unlocking the full potential of each partnership.

(Source: en.nhandan.vn)