Speaking at the ceremony, Belarussian Ambassador A.A Kutselai said that Vietnam and Belarus are actively implementing an inter-governmental cooperation programme so they can take advantage of each other’s human resources and strengths.

Vietnam is Belarus’s traditional Southeast-Asian trade partner, with two-way trade reaching nearly US$150 million last year, doubling the figure of 2007, he said, adding that the volume of goods exchanged between the two countries has quadrupled in the past four years.

He also stressed that Belarussian businesses are ready to cooperate with Vietnamese partners.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh, who is also President of the Vietnam-Belarus Friendship Association, thanked the Belarussian Government and people for their assistance to Vietnam’s past struggle for independence as well as its current process of national development.

Regarding the two countries’ potential for economic development, he said that Vietnam can supply garments, footwear, coffee, tea, rubber, rice, seafood and handicrafts to Belarus while having a demand for metal, fertiliser, machines and equipment and chemicals from the European country.