National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife will attend IPU-150 in Tashkent and pay official visits to the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Armenia. (Source: VNA)

This is an important foreign activity of high-ranking leaders in 2025, the first visit not only of the National Assembly Chairman, but also the first visit of a high-ranking Vietnamese leader to Armenia and Uzbekistan. The visit is meaningful and important on both multilateral and bilateral levels.

Respect for IPU and multilateral mechanisms

On the multilateral front, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man's participation in IPU-150 shows that Vietnam highly values ​​the role of the IPU, as well as multilateral mechanisms, in maintaining peace, stability and development in the region and the world in the current volatile context and with multilateral commitments somewhat declining.

The working trip of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man once again affirmed that Vietnam consistently and strongly supports multilateralism, attaches importance to the role of the IPU, and continues to affirm that the Vietnamese National Assembly is a proactive, active, and responsible member of the IPU.

At this General Assembly, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man will deliver an important speech on the vision of the Vietnamese National Assembly for a developed and equitable world, and will have many meetings with heads of parliaments of other countries to discuss cooperation between Vietnam and partner countries, demonstrating a foreign policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralization, being both a friend and a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community.

After 80 years of national founding, Vietnam has achieved many important achievements in national construction and development, recognized by the international community, considered a development model for countries around the world and is now entering a new era of development.

This visit and participation in IPU-150 aims to highlight Vietnam's achievements in socio-economic development, people-centered policies, and at the same time emphasize the role of the Vietnamese National Assembly in building and supervising the implementation of legal policies to promote sustainable development, ensure social justice, and achieve the country's strategic goals.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man welcomes Armenian National Assembly Chairman Alen Simonyan to visit Vietnam in November 2024. (Source: VNA)

Good traditional friendship

On the bilateral level, the relationship between Vietnam and Uzbekistan and Armenia is very special.

Vietnam officially established diplomatic relations with the two countries in 1992. However, the relationship between Vietnam and the two countries has a deeper history, dating back 75 years when Vietnam officially established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union on January 30, 1950, when Armenia and Uzbekistan were republics within the Soviet Union.

Throughout the history of relations, Vietnam and Armenia and Uzbekistan have had traditional friendship and good cooperation.

The Government and people of Armenia and Uzbekistan have always given Vietnam valuable and effective assistance during the heroic and arduous years of the Vietnamese people's struggle for national liberation.

Many Vietnamese scientists and experts have been trained by Armenian friends. During the Soviet era, Vietnam had 3,000 students studying in Uzbekistan and 2,000 students in Armenia.

To date, these students still hold many important roles and positions in Party and State agencies, as well as Vietnamese enterprises. Uzbekistan helps Vietnam develop the oil and gas industry.

It is important to emphasize that the leaders and people of Armenia and Uzbekistan have special feelings for Vietnam.

Leaders of the two countries have visited Vietnam many times. The President of Uzbekistan visited Vietnam in 2012, and the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament visited Vietnam in 2024.

In addition, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev loves Vietnam very much, originating from the years he was the leader of Uzbekistan Water Resources University in the 70s and 80s of the last century, where many Vietnamese students studied.

President Mirziyoyev was then very impressed by the diligence and hard-working spirit of Vietnamese students; and now, as the country's leader, implementing many important reforms, he always monitors and directs the learning of experiences from other countries, especially Vietnam, in national integration and development.

The official visit of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife to Armenia and Uzbekistan demonstrates Vietnam's consistent policy of always attaching importance to and wishing to strengthen relations with traditional friends, including Armenia and Uzbekistan; as well as Vietnam's determination to work with the two countries to promote cooperation in many aspects and seek opportunities to bring the cooperative relationship to new heights, in the context of the increasingly important role of the Central Asian region and the Caucasus region in international cooperation, in line with the new situation and interests of Vietnam and other countries.

The high-level visit plays a very important role in strengthening Vietnam's relations with the two countries, including the role of the Parliament and the National Assembly's foreign affairs.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang greeted First Vice Chairman of the Senate of Uzbekistan S. Safoev on the occasion of co-chairing the Political Consultation with Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan I. Khaydarov, March 2025. (Source: Embassy of Vietnam in Russia)

Unlocking the potential of cooperation

During the visits, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man will hold official talks with the Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly, the Chairman of the Senate, the Chairman of the House of Representatives of Uzbekistan, and pay respects to the Presidents and Prime Ministers of the two countries.

In addition to exchanging and enhancing inter-parliamentary cooperation, sharing experiences, building legal institutions, and enhancing cooperation between friendship parliamentarian groups, the Chairman of our National Assembly will focus on discussing with the leaders of the two countries major principles, as well as specific measures to further expand cooperation in all fields, especially in the fields of politics, economics, trade, culture, education and training.

Economic and trade cooperation between these two countries and Vietnam is promising, although trade between the two countries is currently modest. Trade turnover between Vietnam and Armenia is about 500 million USD, between Vietnam and Uzbekistan is about 200 million USD, not yet fully exploited.

Within the framework of this visit, Vietnam and the two countries will organize a business forum, bringing together many state-owned and private enterprises to exchange and discuss specific areas of cooperation.

For Armenia, Vietnam promotes cooperation in the fields of phone production, electronic components, as well as textiles, agricultural products, seafood and other areas where both sides have strengths.

For Uzbekistan, the two sides will discuss strengthening cooperation in the fields of oil and gas exploitation, minerals, agriculture and textiles.

I hope that the visit of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife to Armenia and Uzbekistan will contribute to promoting cooperation and opening up new development opportunities for bilateral relations, in accordance with the needs and interests of each country, and meeting the expectations of the people of each country.