Vietnam welcomes Azerbaijani partners

What has been the highlight of the two countries’ recent co-operation?

Over the last two years, our two countries’ relations have been rapidly developing in all spheres. High level political dialogue has played a crucial role in strengthening bilateral co-operation. The state visit by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to Vietnam in May 2014 and an official visit by Vietnam’s President Truong Tan Sang to Azerbaijan in May 2015 opened a new page in the history of bilateral relations, giving a strong impetus to develop co-operation between the two countries.

These visits were followed by further exchanges of high-level officials from both countries. Both sides agreed to set up the Azerbaijan-Vietnam Intergovernmental Commission on economic, trade, and scientific and technical co-operation which I am absolutely confident will play an important role in boosting co-operation in those areas. The inter-parliamentary relations are also developing. Azerbaijan-Vietnam inter-parliamentary groups have been launched in both parliaments and they have already played a positive role in developing inter-parliamentary co-operation between the two countries.

Relations between the ruling parties are also continuously developing. In 2013, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the New Azerbaijan Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam. In October 2014, Le Hong Anh, Member of Vietnam’s Politburo, and Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Communist Party, paid a visit to Azerbaijan, which was a sign of the activation of co-operation between the two ruling parties. Additionally, I would like to mention that the relations between Azerbaijani and Vietnamese people have historically been very friendly and sincere, and this in turn further strengthens our resolve for bilateral co-operation.

Vietnam and Azerbaijan’s bilateral trade turnover hit $422 million last year, and the two sides have agreed to find ways to raise this figure to $1 billion over the next few years. Do you think this goal will be reached?

There is a huge potential to develop the trade turnover between our two countries. Additionally, there is strong intention and political will to support this process by the leaders of both countries, and the aforementioned visits are an indication of this desire. During the visits, business forums were held which brought together the representatives of outstanding companies in both countries. The forums gave the business communities the opportunity to build direct contacts which we believe will contribute to the development of the two countries’ co-operation in various spheres, such as economy, trade, industry, investment, and so on. All of this proves that we have the potential to increase trade turnover to $1 billion and beyond.

During President Truong Tan Sang’s official visit to Azerbaijan in May 2015, the two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement on administrative co-operation and assistance in customs and another on aviation transportation. They also inked memorandums of understanding on agricultural and transport co-operation. How have these agreements been implemented so far?

In order to reach the targets ahead of us, especially in the economic sector, there should be an appropriate legal basis. From this point of view, the documents signed in the framework of the visits play an important role. We do believe that these agreements will create favourable conditions for both countries to develop bilateral co-operation. Regarding the implementation of these contracts, there are some internal procedures in place in each country in order to ensure the implementation process runs smoothly and will be finalised efficiently. In particular, I would say that the direct contacts between the General Department of Vietnam Customs and the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, as well as between Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority and the Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan, have already been set up. I think the agreements signed between these structures will be implemented soon.

Vietnam and Azerbaijan are considering oil and gas co-operation as one of their prime priorities in their partnership. Why is that?

There is a long history of co-operation in the field of oil and gas between our countries. In 1951, President Ho Chi Minh paid a visit to Azerbaijan and became acquainted with the oil industry in our country. At that time, it was his dream to have such an oil industry in Vietnam too. He wanted Azerbaijani specialists to help Vietnam in this endeavour. After the war ended in Vietnam and the

national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, paid a visit to Vietnam as the head of the Soviet Union delegation in 1983, relations between Azerbaijan and Vietnam were officially initiated. Thus, many Azerbaijani specialists were sent to Vietnam to participate in the process of establishing an oil industry in your country, and many Vietnamese students were sent to Azerbaijan to study at our universities majoring in oil, gas, and geology. In this way, Azerbaijan has played a crucial role in establishing and developing the oil industry in Vietnam. Currently, Vietnamese graduates of Azerbaijani universities take high positions in the oil companies of Vietnam. That is why we call the co-operation in the energy sector the pillar of our relationship.

What other sectors do you think Vietnam and Azerbaijan should place priority on in their co-operative activities?

I can say that the development of co-operation in the areas of tourism, agriculture, military, and oil machinery are priorities. In Azerbaijan, we produce high quality oil machinery with competitive prices, which Vietnam buys through third-parties. Now we are trying to build direct contacts with Vietnam so that they are able to buy Azerbaijan-produced oil machinery directly from the source at a much lower price. In these ways, we are working together with our Vietnamese counterparts and do believe that we will see remarkable outcomes from all of these efforts.

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