Belarusian delegation arrived to Vietnam for intergovernmental commission meeting

Prospects on the Asian vector - Belarus is discussing new business initiatives with Vietnam.

A government delegation has arrived to Hanoi. The goal is to revise bilateral projects and outline further steps to develop cooperation. Vietnam is a priority partner in Southeast Asia.

Belarus and Vietnam have been cooperating for such a long time that the famous Belarusian tractor on the Vietnamese banknote appeared in the 1980s. Today, Vietnam remembers that it was Belarusian machinery that enabled local agrarians to achieve success. Belarusian machinery is still trusted to this day.

Vietnam has become an assembly site for trucks, the outpost of Minsk Automobile Plant. Minsk and Hanoi do not wish to stop there - they are discussing the production of Belarusian tractors at the project level, which has already passed the idea stage and has found principled support and approval from all parties.

Vladimir Borovikov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar:

"There are manufacturers in the Vietnamese market who have a much closer logistical accessibility than we do. Therefore, the establishment of assembly here, in Vietnam, will significantly increase the opportunities to promote our equipment both in the local market and in the markets of neighboring countries. This was facilitated by implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Now we actively hold consultations, dynamically work on verification of the technical base of those models that have already been selected. And we assume that this year our project will be implemented in terms of production of the first batch of Belarusian-Vietnamese tractors."

There is an idea to produce a line of right-hand drive vehicles here. There is no such peculiarity in Vietnam. But some of their neighbors in the region traditionally have the steering wheel on the right, so they need special vehicles in this sense. Belarus considers it promising.

Over several days, the partners will discuss all the details - meetings at the governmental level are scheduled. Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Sivak and a large delegation of enterprises' representatives have arrived to Hanoi.

The visit shall cover the intergovernmental commission sitting and a business forum, and a range of bilateral meetings.