(VOVWORLD) - Chairman of the Lower House of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin is paying an official visit to Vietnam from Wednesday to Friday at the invitation of National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
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 Chairman of the Lower House of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin
(Photo: Trong Duc/ VNA)
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Vietnam and Kazakhstan established diplomatic ties 27 years ago, but the two have nurtured a friendly relationship for 70 years since Kazakhstan was part of the former Soviet Union.
Promoting parliamentary ties
Parliamentary relations between Vietnam and Kazakhstan are an important channel for bilateral ties. Former Chairman of the Lower House Kabibulla Dzhakupov visited Vietnam in 2015. Two years later, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan visited Kazakhstan. NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong attended the 4th Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments in Kazakhstan in September. Leaders of the two parliaments have held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of international events such as the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union last April and co-supervised cooperative agreements reached by the two governments.
Chairman Nigmatulin said Kazakhstan’s Lower House supports economic cooperation through the Inter-parliamentary Union’s cooperative mechanism and expressed his hope for a new MOU or bilateral cooperation agreement.
Enhancing economic cooperation
During his visit, the two countries will discuss new measures to promote economic cooperation. Both are members of the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Chairwoman Ngan said during her visit to Kazakhstan in 2017: “Both sides should take advantage of the FTA’s incentive tariffs to promote trade ties. Vietnam exports rice, rubber, coffee, and electrical equipment to Kazakhstan and imports metal, steel, and other things.”
With a population of 94 million people, Vietnam is a high potential market for Kazakhstan’s agricultural products, while Vietnam can export aquatic products and tropical fruits to Kazakhstan.
Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the E-commerce and Digital Economics Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said: “Vietnamese products are welcomed in the Eurasian market, including Kazakhstan. Vietnam should improve trademark, and post-harvest processing, particularly for agricultural products, to gain a firm foothold in this market.”
The Vietnam-China-Kazakhstan-Europe railway which began operating last year, will open new opportunities for economic cooperation.