Ryzhenkov Meets Vietnamese Premier and Counterpart; Prepares for Lukashenko Visit

Minsk and Hanoi are strengthening their strategic partnership. A new impulse to the relationship will be given by the official visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov to Vietnam.

On 28 October there was a packed negotiation agenda. Maxim Ryzhenkov held a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Le Minh Hung, as well as with his Vietnamese counterpart Le Hoai Trung. It is important to pull trade and economic interaction up to the high level of political dialogue.

Despite the difficult recent historical past, the hardworking Vietnamese people were able, despite external pressure, to build their own path of development. Today the economy of the Socialist Republic is one of the fastest-growing in the region. For Belarus, Vietnam with a population of more than 100 million people is not only a promising sales market, but also one of the key partners in Southeast Asia.

The visit of the head of the Belarusian MFA to Vietnam became the first in the last 12 years. The status of relations and the partners’ desire for dialogue — the very time for checking watches. A reciprocal visit by the head of the Belarusian state Alexander Lukashenko to the Socialist Republic is under preparation.

Maxim Ryzhenkov

“For us this is a very important visit. We have come here first of all to work out issues of organizing the visit of the President of the Republic of Belarus. With great joy I convey to you words of greeting on behalf of the President of the Republic of Belarus and I am confident that you will have the opportunity to personally exchange with him possible directions of cooperation and the international agenda during his visit to your hospitable country,” Maxim Ryzhenkov noted.

Le Minh Hung

“Vietnam highly values the friendly feelings and valuable assistance that the people of Belarus rendered to Vietnam in the struggle for independence in the past, as well as in the cause of building and developing the country today. We are also glad of the successes that Belarus under the leadership of President Alexander Lukashenko has achieved in the development of the country. Conducting a foreign-policy course of independence and self-reliance, relying on its own forces for the sake of peace and friendship, Vietnam invariably attaches special importance to and strives for the development of relations with its traditional friends and strategic partners, among whom Belarus occupies an extremely important place,” Le Minh Hung said.

At the meeting with the Prime Minister of Vietnam they discussed work on the defense and educational tracks, as well as the cooperation roadmap between the countries for 2027–2029.

An exemplary tone of interaction for the state bodies of Belarus and Vietnam can be set by the foreign-policy departments. The importance of joint work for the practical filling of the partnership was discussed at the meeting of the foreign ministers.

Le Hoai Trung, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam:

“We believe that the establishment of a strategic partnership during the visit of our general secretary to Belarus last year created a new basis for bilateral cooperation. I believe that the key task of our two foreign ministries is to work together in order to facilitate the work of other state bodies in turning the political agreements of our leaders into concrete deeds and results.”

On 28 October Maxim Ryzhenkov and Le Hoai Trung signed a plan of interaction between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs for the next several years.

In parallel with the high-level meetings in Vietnam sectoral initiatives are being discussed. The complementarity of the economies makes it possible to substantially increase trade turnover. In addition, there is groundwork for expanding the nomenclature of supplied products.

Ivan Smilgin, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of Belarus:

“To date we are working very fruitfully with Vietnam, including on agricultural products. For January–August of the current year we have already supplied products to Vietnam worth 10.5 million dollars: these are dairy products, dry milk whey, whole milk powder. In 2025 we opened supplies of beef to the Vietnamese market. Already in the current year we have supplied beef worth 300 thousand dollars.”

However, the special accent of the meetings is that an impulse is needed for economic interaction. The idea of simply selling and buying is gradually outliving itself. It is time to move to cooperative projects. In all directions there is interest in working.

In addition, there is a common vision of joint development. For the Vietnamese, Belarusians are not strangers. Historical memory is what unites the generations. The head of the Belarusian MFA laid wreaths at the Monument to the Heroes and Fallen Soldiers of Vietnam, as well as at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

2027 is a landmark year for bilateral cooperation — Minsk and Hanoi will mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. There is good groundwork for the implementation of concrete projects in various directions. The potential of joint work will continue to be studied on 29 October. The official visit of the Belarusian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov continues.