Vietnam's Vice President Holds Bilateral Talks, Meets Vietnamese Community in Bishkek

On the occasion of attending the extended Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO plus) Summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan engaged in active diplomatic activities. On August 31, she held a meeting with Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). During the meeting, Vice President Xuan highly appreciated the role of the EAEU and its chairman in promoting the implementation of commitments within the framework of the Vietnam-EAEU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). She affirmed the need to better exploit the FTA and boost trade and investment, bringing practical benefits to the people and businesses of both sides. She proposed upgrading and amending the agreement to suit the new situation and meet the cooperation needs and economic potential of Vietnam and the EAEU, ensuring balanced benefits. She also requested the EAEU to remove trade barriers related to threshold safeguard measures, especially for textiles and footwear, and to continue paying attention to trade defense measures concerning rice. Chairman Sagintayev expressed his pleasure at the doubling of bilateral trade between Vietnam and the EAEU, while emphasizing that there is still great room and potential for development. He wished for increased exchanges and reconciliation of trade statistics to resolve bottlenecks and for the early organization of the Joint Committee meeting and the signing of a protocol on electronic origin certification. Vice President Xuan shared Vietnam's desire to expand cooperation space into high-tech fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and energy transition. She noted that the EAEU is one of Vietnam's important trading partners, with bilateral trade increasing nearly 30% annually between 2017-2018 and nearly doubling by 2025 (compared to 2016). Separately, Vice President Xuan met with Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Mohamed Ahmed Eissa. She affirmed Vietnam's appreciation for Egypt's important role and influence in the region and its regard for the traditional friendship, noting the positive development of bilateral relations, especially after upgrading them to a Comprehensive Partnership during President Luong Cuong's visit to Egypt in August 2025. She proposed promoting delegation exchanges, particularly at the high level, and conveyed General Secretary and President To Lam's invitation to the Egyptian President to visit Vietnam. She emphasized that Vietnam and Egypt, as countries with similar population and economic scales, should exploit advantages, strengthen economic, trade, and investment cooperation, and promote negotiations for a Vietnam-Egypt FTA. She also affirmed Vietnam's readiness to promote relations between ASEAN and the Arab League and the African Union. Deputy Prime Minister Eissa affirmed that the Egyptian people admire Vietnam's victory in its struggle for national independence and reunification, as well as its current socio-economic development achievements. He stressed Egypt's desire to further strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in various fields such as agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, digital transformation, education, and renewable energy. Earlier the same day, Vice President Xuan visited the Vietnamese community in Bishkek. The community, numbering about 300 people, consists mainly of officials and employees of Vietnam's ROX Group, which is implementing major investment projects in Kyrgyzstan. On this occasion, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov awarded the Dostuk Order to Tran Anh Tuan, Founder and Chairman of ROX Group and Chairman of MSB, for his significant contributions to promoting investment cooperation between Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan. Vice President Xuan acknowledged the community's adherence to local laws, their contributions to the host country, and their continued connection to their homeland. She shared the latest policies of the Party and State concerning overseas Vietnamese. She praised the community's solidarity and mutual support, and their efforts in their livelihoods and in fostering good relations with the local population. She also expressed her emotion at the large turnout despite traffic difficulties due to the major international event. Source: Nhan Dan