The important event offered an opportunity for the two sides to exchange views on potential areas for future cooperation, demonstrating their determination to further promote bilateral economic trade cooperation.
At the 11th session, the two sides reviewed the implementation of agreements reached at the 10th session of the Vietnam-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, as well as the joint action plan of the two governments to promote bilateral economic trade cooperation from 2023-2025, which was signed during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev’s official visit to Vietnam in August 2023.
The Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VN-EAEU FTA) that came into effect in October 2016 helped bilateral trade value grow by up to 28 percent per year from 2017-2021.
Kazakh Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev said that according to Kazakhstan's statistics, the bilateral trade value increased nearly 5-fold from US$205.9 million in 2015 to US$979.2 million in 2013 (up 85.4 percent from 2022), including US$180.2 million from Kazakhstan's exports (up 43.7 percent) and US$799 million from Vietnam’s exports (up 98.3 percent).
Kazakhstan has become Vietnam's second largest EAEU trade partner, while Vietnam has become Kazakhstan's second largest trade partner in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
However, both Ministers acknowledged that the bilateral cooperation remains incommensurate with the potential and is facing many challenges due to the global economic difficulties and the complex developments of geopolitical conflicts.
Nevertheless, the two countries have extremely favourable conditions to strengthen cooperation, especially the more open legal framework created by the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement. Kazakhstan acts as a gateway for Vietnamese goods to penetrate Central Asia and Europe, while through Vietnam, Kazakh goods can penetrate the vast ASEAN market and beyond, where Vietnam has FTA relationships.
According to Minister Arman Shakkaliyev, the Vietnam-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Cooperation is a very important mechanism for the development of bilateral cooperation.
The two sides have built a relationship of trust to ensure the efficiency of the committee’s activities, resolve difficulties, and at the same time promote bilateral economic, trade, and investment relations. Kazakhstan currently has six investment projects in Vietnam. Some Vietnamese enterprises are exploring the possibility of investing in Kazakhstan in the fields of transportation, household electrical equipment, tourism, and others. Therefore, the two sides believe that it is necessary to make investment cooperation a driving force of bilateral economic and trade relations.
The two sides agreed to coordinate implementing various measures to remove difficulties and obstacles in bilateral trade and investment, and also proposed specific directions for cooperation in the coming time to support enterprises of the two countries in expanding trade promotion and investment activities in each other's markets.
Following the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee, the Vietnamese side will organise a working session with associations and Vietnamese enterprises having potential in the areas where Kazakhstan wishes to attract investment. A delegation of Vietnamese businesses will be sent to Kazakhstan to survey the local investment environment.
The two sides agreed to continue maintaining their good traditional relationship and increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, as well as strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest. At the end of the session, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Kazakh Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev signed the Minutes of the 11th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee.
