Meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the margins of the BRICS summit in Kazan.

The head of state stated that the sides cooperate very actively in international organizations. "We have almost no matters of concern in our cooperation. We have always supported each other and will continue to do it," he said.

As far as trade and economic cooperation is concerned, which is seen as the foundation of relations, the countries have reached a very high level of interaction by the end of 2023. "Our trade has amounted to over $250 million," Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out.

The President stated that there is a problem of mutual settlements. "We certainly wouldn't want Vietnam to face any sanctions because of us. Although we understand that nowadays it is not easy to put pressure on Vietnam. It is a very powerful large developed country," he noted.

Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed confidence that all issues can be addressed if there is a desire. "Therefore, we would like to ask you to find acceptable solutions for mutual settlements during the visit of a delegation of Belarus' National Bank to Vietnam," he suggested.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also offers Vietnam to develop machinery production projects. "Once during my visit to Vietnam, I proposed to the former leaders to set up joint ventures of Belarusian machinery in Vietnam to further tap into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation market," the head of state said.

"We can start with assembly. Why not cooperate in this? It is beneficial to you, it is beneficial to us, and it is beneficial to the countries to which we will then sell thee engineering goods. Vietnam has a great demand, especially for agricultural trucks," the Belarusian leader added.

Another avenue of cooperation is the tourism sector. Vietnam is increasingly popular with travelers from Belarus. Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested working on visa issues and organizing direct flights.

"We have no problems in cooperation with Vietnam. The Vietnamese are very good decent people. I guarantee you that you will not have problems with our travelers in Vietnam," the President said.

There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed to deepen cooperation. Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested that the foreign ministers of Belarus and Vietnam think about and propose an action plan to resolve the issues that currently exist in relations between the two countries. "We need such a roadmap," he said.

The prime minister noted that Vietnam is closely monitoring the situation in Belarus. He conveyed warm greetings and wishes from the leadership of Vietnam.

Aleksandr Lukashenko asked to convey his warmest congratulations to the leadership of Vietnam. Belarus also closely watches the development of this country and rejoices at its successes, the head of state assured.

"A delegation of the Belarusian Defense Ministry will be sent to Vietnam for the major holidays," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.