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Vietnamese president plans to visit Minsk in mid-May

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet plans to pay an official visit to Belarus in mid-May at the invitation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Ambassador Dang Xiu Chan said at a seminar held in Minsk on Friday.

Mr. Lukashenka traveled to Vietnam in April 2008, while Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Vietnam’s National Assembly speaker Nguyen Phu Trong visited Belarus in 2009.

Mr. Chan said that the authorities of the two countries had created a sufficient legal framework for bilateral cooperation. The ball is now in the court of business circles, which should expand to the other country’s markets and engage intensively in cooperation talks, he said.

The ambassador praised the development of two-way trade in the last two years but said that it still was beyond its potential and did “not so far match up to opportunities and expectations of the two sides.”

The two countries should use their competitive advantages to boost mutual trade and protect their economies against the negative effects of the global recession, he said.

Vietnam is a leading exporter of rice, coffee, cacao, black pepper and rubber, being also capable of satisfying fully Belarus’ demand for tropical vegetables and fruits, clothes, shoes, seafood, jewelry, craft works, furniture and electronic appliances, he said, noting that his country, for its turn, needs fertilizers, equipment, modern technologies, heavy goods vehicles and dump trucks, tractors and dairy products made in Belarus. //BelaPAN