Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Fam Binh Minh

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Viet Nam's Foreign Minister Fam Binh Minh within his official visit to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. Rauf Aliyev, a member of the Parliament and New Azerbaijan Party, is also participating at the visit.

The Foreign Ministers exchanged congratulatory letters addressed by Heads of State on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Viet Nam have deep historical bonds and in this regard, recalled the visit of former President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Ho Chi Minh to Azerbaijan in 1959, and the visit of National Leader of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev to Vietnam in 1983, as the First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.

At the same time, Elmar Mammadyarov stressed the importance of the visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E Mr. Ilham Aliyev to Viet Nam in 2014 and the visit of the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, H.E Mr. Truong Tan Sang to Azerbaijan in 2015 in deepening and promoting bilateral relations. He added that those mutual visits gave an impetus to the promotion of cooperation and the intensification of political dialogue between our countries.

Minister Mammadyarov noted that there are vast opportunities for expanding economic and trade relations between Azerbaijan and Viet Nam, and said that it is useful to conduct mutual business forums to identify such opportunities and explore new areas of cooperation. Also, E.Mammadyarov noted the role of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Azerbaijan, established in 2015, and informed his counterpart about the meeting with the co-chair of the Commission, Mr. Tran Tuan Anh.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov briefed his counterpart on the potential of the North-South transport corridor, noting that Viet Nam, which is interested in increasing export to Europe, will benefit from this project, and consequently shorten the transport route from Viet Nam to Europe.

Meanwhile, Elmar Mammadyarov shared brief information about the negotiating process on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the Minsk Group Co-chairs, saying that the relevant UN Security Council resolutions still have not been implemented by Armenia. Furthermore, he added that the presence of military forces of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan remains the main obstacle in the settlement of the conflict.

Minister Fam Binh Minh said that official visits played an important role in forging high-level cooperation between the two countries. He emphasized the importance of continuation of a successful political dialogue in the economic sphere, and noted the potential for trade turnover increase. He also proposed to intensify cooperation in the field of energy by benefiting Azerbaijan's successful energy policy and experience.

The Vietnamese minister said that the cooperation in transport and logistics could be a new page in the development of relations between the two countries.
Minister Fam Binh Minh noted that "Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in agriculture and rural development between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam", which was signed in 2015, has created a favourable ground for enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of agriculture and has opened numerous opportunities.

Minister Fam Binh Minh touched upon the expansion of cooperation in the field of education and gladly reminded that experts working in the oil field of Viet Nam got their high education in Azerbaijan. He also added that Azerbaijani oilmen played a special role in the creation of Vietnam's Veso Petrol Company.

During the meeting, the ministers also discussed cooperation between the two countries within the framework of international organizations and the expansion of the legal-treaty framework.

After the meeting, the ministers held a joint press conference.