Meeting SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev on the sidelines of the SCO Plus Summit in Kyrgyzstan, Ms. Xuan said Vietnam stands ready to serve as a bridge between ASEAN and the SCO, strengthen links between Southeast Asia and Central Asia, and promote cooperation between ASEAN, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and other regional mechanisms.
She also called for greater collaboration in trade, science and technology, innovation, and efforts to combat terrorism, transnational crime and cybercrime.
Secretary-General Yermekbayev said he was particularly impressed by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May, noting that Vietnam’s goals and principles closely align with the SCO’s development priorities.
At a separate meeting with Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Ms. Xuan proposed upgrading the Vietnam-EAEU Free Trade Agreement to better reflect current realities and unlock the full economic potential of both sides while ensuring balanced benefits.
She also called on the EAEU to remove trade barriers, particularly those affecting textiles, garments, footwear and leather products, and to continue paying attention to trade-defence measures involving rice.
Chairman Sagintayev said two-way trade between Vietnam and the EAEU had doubled, but there remained ample room for further growth.
The same day, Ms. Xuan and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov agreed to expand cooperation in science and technology, transport, logistics, culture, tourism, sports and people-to-people exchanges.
They also pledged to strengthen coordination in addressing traditional and non-traditional security challenges while enhancing connectivity between Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
