Vietnam-Pakistan Friendship Develops For the Benefit of the People

Le Thi Thu Hang, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

50 years of thriving development

According to Le Thi Thu Hang, the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Pakistan originate from their historical similarities in culture, geography, and trade. The relationship has grown thrivingly to new heights after the two countries officially established their diplomatic relations on November 8, 1972.

During the past 50 years, adapting to the regional and global changes, the Vietnam – Pakistan relations, rooted in sincere friendship cultivated through generations of leaders and people of the two countries, have strongly developed.

In response to the development requirements of each country in a changing world, the friendship between Vietnam and Pakistan has become increasingly important to both countries. Vietnam and Pakistan need to make determined efforts to preserve and develop good relations to meet the aspirations and interests of the two peoples.

Hang expressed her belief that with the high determination of the leaders and the support of the two peoples, the good friendship between Vietnam and Pakistan would develop substantively and effectively for the benefit of the two countries, the interests of the people, for peace, stability, cooperation and prosperous development of the region and the world.

Pakistani Ambassador to Vietnam Samina Mehtab said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, bilateral relations between the two countries have developed strongly in all fields such as politics, economy, trade, and people-to-people exchanges. Pakistan and Vietnam possess a solid and long-standing bilateral cooperation mechanism, including Bilateral Political Consultation, Joint Ministerial Committee, and Joint Trade Committee, demonstrating both sides’ will to establish relations in different fields.

Economic and trade relations between the two countries have nearly tripled from USD 331 million in 2013-2014 to USD 907 million in 2021-2022 and are expected to reach USD 1 billion in the near future. In terms of people-to-people exchanges, Pakistan has regularly provided capacity-building training courses for the Vietnamese people. The number of Vietnamese tourists to Pakistan is also steadily increasing.

According to Ambassador Samina Mehtab, during her term, she is trying to create the necessary momentum for bilateral relations. The highest goal is to promote regular high-level exchanges between the two countries so that there will be a high-level visit in the near future. Ambassador Mehta said the two sides are focusing on promoting cooperation in trade, investment, information technology, and tourism.

Pakistani Ambassador to Vietnam Samina Mehtab at the Conference.

Finding solutions to boost Vietnam-Pakistan relations to new heights

Pham Cao Cuong – Deputy Director of the Institute for Indian and Southwest Asian Studies, said, with efforts from both sides, the two countries’ economic-trade relations have achieved prominent results. However, in many aspects, the actual achievements are not commensurate with the potential.

Specifically, there is no specific cooperation between the two countries in many important fields such as military – security, natural resources – environment, climate change, geology, and minerals. In the field of trade, the import and export turnover achieved is not commensurate with the potential and market of the two countries.

“That situation shows that Vietnam and Pakistan need more dialogue to promote the existing political and economic cooperation and consultation mechanisms. We need to cooperate to develop the economy, trade, and investment to earn a good result. We need to promote cooperation in the fields of culture, education, tourism, and information technology, and share experiences in dealing with traditional and non-traditional security challenges,” Cuong said.

In the next chapter of the relations, the two countries need to continue working together to tackle challenges in the India-Pacific region, he said. At the same time, Vietnam and Pakistan need to strengthen investment cooperation to form a new supply chain in the region, meeting the increasingly urgent needs of trade and tourism.

Delegates at the conference.

The international conference on “50 years of Pakistan – Vietnam Diplomatic Relations” is an opportunity for Vietnamese and foreign scholars to publish their latest research, thereby comprehensively assessing the relationship between the two countries during the past 50 years and its future prospect.

At the seminar, scholars, diplomats, and scientists focused on comprehensively analyzing various aspects of the Vietnam-Pakistan cooperation from the past, present and the future. Their research evaluates the achievements and limitations in the bilateral relations.

Accordingly, the focus on the Vietnam – Pakistan is the two countries’ actual achievement in trade cooperation. The two countries should further analyze the driving forces, the essential areas and key regions and localities to build the bilateral cooperation relations.

The delegates also discussed to promote trade, investment and information technology cooperation between Vietnam and Pakistan. They introduced the potential and needs of Pakistan, analyzed the current situation of tourism between Vietnam and Pakistan, thereby seek solutions to promote tourism and people-to-people contacts.