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 on October 14.
The head of state expressed his gratitude to Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan for taking part in the upcoming Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku. He noted that the visit also provided an opportunity to discuss bilateral issues on the agenda.
Recalling his visit to Vietnam and the visit to Azerbaijan by To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the importance of the discussions held during these visits and once again emphasized the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Azerbaijani President also expressed his gratitude to Vietnam for supporting the extension of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of CICA.
Vo Thi Anh Xuan thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for the reception and fondly recalled her previous visit to Azerbaijan and her meeting with the head of state.
The Vietnamese Vice President congratulated Azerbaijan on its achievements, its successful chairmanship of CICA and its organization of the summit in Baku. She noted that her country highly appreciated Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the organization.
Highlighting the historical ties between Azerbaijan and Vietnam, Vo Thi Anh Xuan said that the adoption of a Joint Statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership during To Lam’s visit to Azerbaijan had played an important role in elevating bilateral relations to a new level.
They also recalled the visits to Azerbaijan by President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh and the visits to Vietnam by National Leader Heydar Aliyev during his tenure in the Soviet leadership and by President Ilham Aliyev. They noted that this historical legacy played an important role in developing bilateral relations.
The Vice President said that Vietnam highly valued Azerbaijan’s support for the country’s development after its struggle for independence, particularly in restoring the energy sector and training qualified personnel. She noted that this support had laid a strong historical foundation for cooperation between the two countries. She also fondly recalled that thousands of Vietnamese students had studied in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era.
The meeting covered cooperation between Azerbaijan and Vietnam within international organizations and an exchange of views on prospects for cooperation in the economy, trade, transport and logistics, renewable energy, tourism, investment and the introduction of a visa-free regime, in line with the strong political ties between the two countries.
Regarding energy cooperation, the sides noted the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and PetroVietnam and discussed ways to further expand their partnership.
Vo Thi Anh Xuan expressed her gratitude for the humanitarian and cultural projects implemented in Vietnam by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, led by Azerbaijan’s First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, and fondly recalled the visit to Vietnam by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Foundation.