The event was held to celebrate the 107th anniversary of the National Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan (May 28, 1918 - 2025) and the establishment of the Vietnam-Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership within the framework of the state visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan by Party General Secretary To Lam from May 7-8, 2025.
In his speech, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Viet Nam Shovgi Mehdizada shared that the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic — the first democratic parliamentary republic in the Eastern Muslim world — was established on May 28, 1918.
Azerbaijan has continued to strengthen its role in the international arena, which is reflected in its ability to organise major international events. In particular, the ambassador particularly emphasised the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change successfully held in Baku last November.
Over the past 65 years, Azerbaijan and Viet Nam have enjoyed strong and friendly relations. This cooperation began with the historic visit of President Ho Chi Minh to Azerbaijan in 1959. The visit was a special event, laying the foundation for a strong and long-lasting relationship between the two countries.
The relationship between the two countries was further strengthened by another important event, namely the visit to Viet Nam by late President Heydar Aliyev in 1983, when he served as First Deputy Chairman of the Soviet Union Council of Ministers.
On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Anh Tuan sent warm congratulations to the government and people of Azerbaijan on the achievements made during the 107-year journey of building and developing the country.
From a country that had just gained independence in 1918, Azerbaijan has grown strongly, both economically and socially, becoming an important energy and trade centre of the region, increasingly affirming the position of the entire Caucasus region and West Asia.
In more than 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Viet Nam and Azerbaijan have achieved many important achievements in bilateral cooperation, political-diplomatic relations have been strengthened and consolidated, with regular exchanges and contacts at high and all levels on the party, state, and National Assembly channels, as well as people-to-people exchanges.
The deputy minister also emphasised the great results of the recent State visit to Azerbaijan by General Secretary To Lam and his spouse. During the visit, the two countries officially upgraded their relations to a strategic partnership, making Azerbaijan Viet Nam’s first strategic partner in the Caucasus region.
This is an important historical milestone, as President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev affirmed: this will open new horizons for the development of bilateral relations in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect.
The concert with the theme “Pearls of Azerbaijani Classical Music” featured opera artist, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Fidan Hajiyeva; and Conductor, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Fakhraddin Karimov. The artists performed Azerbaijani classics such as: the prelude to the opera “Koroglu”, Sevgili Canan romance, Habanera from the opera “Carmen”, as well as works about Viet Nam such as the suite “Vietnam” written about the Dien Bien Phu Victory and the song “Hello Vietnam”.
