President Ilham Aliyev Meets with Vice President of Vietnam

On October 14, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva met with Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan.

Operativ Media reports that the head of state expressed gratitude to Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan for attending the Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) to be held in Baku, noting that the visit also provides an opportunity to discuss bilateral issues on the agenda.

Recalling his visit to Vietnam and the visit of To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, to Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the importance of the discussions held during those visits and reaffirmed the strategic partnership nature of bilateral relations.

The Azerbaijani President expressed appreciation to Vietnam for supporting the extension of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of CICA.

Thanking President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for the reception, the guest fondly recalled her previous visit to Azerbaijan and her meeting with the head of state.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan offered her congratulations on Azerbaijan's achievements, as well as its successful chairmanship of CICA and the hosting of the organization's summit in Baku. She noted that her country highly values Azerbaijan's chairmanship of CICA.

Noting the historical ties between Azerbaijan and Vietnam, the guest said that the adoption of a Joint Statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership during the visit of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Azerbaijan played an important role in elevating relations to a new level.

The visits to Azerbaijan by President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh, to Vietnam by National Leader Heydar Aliyev during his time in the USSR leadership, as well as visits by the Azerbaijani head of state to Vietnam were recalled with satisfaction, with both sides noting that this historical legacy plays a vital role in developing Azerbaijan-Vietnam ties.

The guest stated that Vietnam highly appreciates the support Azerbaijan previously provided for the country's development following its struggle for freedom, as well as for the restoration of its energy sector and human resource development, noting that this created a solid historical tradition and foundation for cooperation between the two countries. She also fondly recalled that thousands of Vietnamese students studied in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era.

During the meeting, the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Vietnam within international organizations was highlighted, and views were exchanged on prospects for partnership in economic, trade, transport and logistics, renewable energy, tourism, investment, and visa-free regime fields, in line with the spirit of political relations.

Touching upon energy cooperation, the sides discussed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between SOCAR and PetroVietnam and the further expansion of partnership stemming from it.

The guest expressed gratitude for the humanitarian and cultural projects implemented in Vietnam by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, headed by First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, and fondly recalled the visit of Vice-President of the Foundation Leyla Aliyeva to Vietnam.