OREANDA-NEWS. October 07, 2011. President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with Nguen Tan Zung, Prime Minister of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, at the Oqsaroy.

Greeting the guest, the head of our state noted that despite the geographic distance between our countries, expansion of comprehensive and long-term cooperation with Vietnam – one of the rapidly developing nations in South-East Asia – has always been regarded important in Uzbekistan.

A solid footing of the current bilateral contacts was laid during the 1996 visit by Uzbekistan’s President to Vietnam, when the Agreement on Interstate Relations and Cooperation was signed. The interaction is characterized today as pragmatic and equally advantageous, built on mutual respect and confidence.

A positive experience has been accumulated between Uzbekistan and Vietnam in reciprocal support in the international arena. Positions and approaches of our countries match on fundamental issues of regional and international nature.

The first visit by Vietnam’s head of government to Uzbekistan is considered in our country a significant event in the development of relations between the two nations, primarily in terms of enhancing trade-economic ties and stepping up a good base for their longer-term advancement.

Prime Minister Nguen Tan Zung conveyed gratitude for a warm and goodwill welcome and congratulated the head of Uzbek state on the twentieth anniversary of independence, outstanding results of which the Vietnamese official encountered during his visit.

It was stressed at the meeting that the two parties wield all the capacities and conditions to attain the common goal, that is, dynamic buildup of trade and investment cooperation.

The investment interaction has been consolidating currently between Uzbekneftgaz national holding company and PetroVietnam. Geological prospecting has been underway at Kossor investment block of Ustyurt region as part of agreement inked in January 2010.

The launching of regular air cargo transportation between Navoi and Hanoi airports is evaluated as a promising track of cooperation. The sides discussed possibilities of establishing most favorable routes for shipment of goods from the two countries to Central and South-East Asian markets.

The documents signed during the current visit have been given a high appreciation in this context. The deals are to facilitate consolidation of interaction in such areas as trade and investments into hydrocarbon sector, textile industry, agriculture and other spheres. Equally satisfying have been the outcomes of the recent fifth session of Joint Intergovernmental Commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation during which the sides agreed to boost economic and investment interaction.

The parties deliberated on a wide range of issues of shared interest during the detailed and open exchange of views.