Vietnam remains Belarus’ strategic partner in Southeast Asia

Minsk considers that economic, political and security relations with Hanoi have good prospects and has manifested its interest in developing such relations.

Last week, Chairwoman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân, one of the four leaders of the ruling Communist Party, paid a visit to Belarus. Although reportedly, the visit was not directly related to security matters, it was a part of multifaceted Belarusian-Vietnamese relations, which have recently demonstrated high momentum exactly in the security field.

For instance, on June 3^rd-7^th, 2019, a delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, headed by the Commander of the Vietnamese People’s Air Force, Lieutenant General Lê Huy Vịnh, visited Belarus. During the visit, the Vietnamese delegation familiarized with joint military-technical Belarusian-Vietnamese projects, Belarus’ military potential in terms of production, repair and modernization of weapons and military equipment.

On July 2^nd-13^th, 2019, a delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security was in Minsk, headed by Minister General of the Army, Tô Lâm. He held meetings at the Interior Ministry, the State Committee for Judicial Expertise and the KGB. During the meeting with the leadership of the latter agency, the parties, among other things, discussed the protection of the political regimes in both states.

In October, a delegation of the Vietnam military media was in Belarus. On November 28^th-29^th, the 18^th meeting of the Joint Belarusian-Vietnamese Military-Technical Cooperation Commission took place in Vietnam, chaired by the head of the State Armed Forces of Belarus Raman Halauchanka and Deputy Minister of National Defense of Vietnam, Colonel-General Bế Xuân Trường. The parties discussed the results of cooperation and determined areas of further collaboration. In addition, Belarusian specialists visited some enterprises of the Vietnamese defence industry.

Belarus and Vietnam conventionally have partner relations in politics, economy and security. Hanoi remains an important customer of the Belarusian military-industrial complex and a partner in the military-political dialogue. The absence of political contradictions between Belarus and Vietnam and the fact that the Vietnamese military budget is the fourth largest in Southeast Asia guarantees Belarus’ great interest in military-technical cooperation with Hanoi in the future.