Bektenov stressed Viet Nam is Kazakhstan's most important and reliable partner in Southeast Asia and expressed his confidence that the Party chief's ongoing visit with the upgrade of the bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership is a historic milestone would inject fresh momentum into the traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee To Lam (L) and Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

Lam affirmed that Viet Nam always treasures the sound traditional friendship with Kazakhstan, notably referencing President Ho Chi Minh's visit to the country in 1959, which laid the foundation for the bilateral friendship and multifaceted cooperation.

He took this occasion to thank Kazakhstan for its assistance during Viet Nam's past struggle for national liberation and its current process of national construction and development.

At the meeting, Lam briefed Bektenov on the successful outcomes of his talks with Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, including the adoption of a joint statement on the elevation of the bilateral ties to the Strategic Partnership.

Bektenov pledged to join hands with the Vietnamese Government to effectively implement the contents of the Strategic Partnership.

The Vietnamese leader expressed his delight at the robust development of the bilateral relations over the recent past, with the exchange of delegations at all levels and growing two-way trade. Kazakhstan currently stands as Viet Nam's second-largest trading partner within the Eurasian Economic Union.

The two nations have strengthened cooperation through a visa exemption agreement and tourism collaboration, resulting in increased people-to-people exchanges. Flight frequency has increased to 3-5 daily flights, contributing to a remarkable rise in Kazakh visitors to Viet Nam.

Besides, the two countries have achieved significant progress in their cooperation in such areas as education – training, culture, and collaboration between localities.

On that spirit, both sides agreed to continue increasing the exchange of delegations and meetings, including those at high level across all Party, State, and people-to-people channels.

They also vowed to strengthen the two foreign ministries’ role in advancing bilateral cooperation, acting as a bridge to foster cooperative ties between ministries, agencies and localities.

At the same time, they will continue to work closely together at international organisations and multilateral forums of which both countries are members, including the United Nations, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The two leaders held that there remains untapped potential for expanding economic ties, particularly in areas of mutual interest such as industry, energy, science, information technology, tourism, and transport.

They pledged to promote substantive cooperation in traditional fields such as transport, energy - oil and gas, agriculture, and education; strengthen collaboration through the Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Trade, and Scientific–Technical Cooperation; and speed up the establishment of a Vietnamese trade representative office in Kazakhstan and the Viet Nam–Kazakhstan Joint Business Council.

Lam proposed exploring new areas of cooperation like finance, digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), emerging technologies, clean energy, digital economy and digital transformation.

He suggested the two sides improve their legal environments to facilitate investment and business activities, review and consider supplementing, amending, or signing new cooperation documents to advance collaboration in various areas.

In particular, he requested Kazakhstan to facilitate deeper penetration of Vietnamese goods into the Kazakh market and the broader region, as well as creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises doing bussiness and investing in Kazakhstan.

The two leaders reached consensus on boosting connectivity in transport, including railways and aviation, and fortifying joint work in logistics, tourism, sci-tech, and agriculture.

Bektenov appreciated the presence of Vietnamese businesses successfully operating in Kazakhstan and expressed his strong desire to attract more Vietnamese firms with all possible support.

On this occasion, Lam thanked the PM and the Government of Kazakhstan for their support to the Vietnamese community living and working in the country.

He conveyed greetings and an invitation from PM Pham Minh Chinh to the Kazakh PM to visit Viet Nam soon. He also expressed his hope that Kazakhstan would send a delegation to the signing ceremony of the Cybercrime Convention in Hanoi later this year.

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