BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

07/04/2008

Belarus president pledges closer economic ties with Vietnam

HANOI (AFP) - Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko pledged closer economic ties with communist Vietnam on Monday during a visit to the cold war-era ally, which he called a "major partner in Asia"

Lukashenko, who last visited Vietnam a decade ago, held talks with his counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet, and was due to meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh.

"For Belarus, Vietnam is a major partner in Asia," Lukashenko said, pledging that his country would open an engine-manufacturing plant in Vietnam and invite Vietnamese experts to study in Belarus.

The two countries also signed several cooperation agreements, including in energy, banking, customs and visa rules, food safety, tourism and sport during the visit by Lukashenko, who was due to leave Tuesday.

The authoritarian governments in Minsk and Hanoi have both been criticised by Western countries for their human rights records.

In March, the US State Department dubbed Lukashenko's government a "brutal, authoritarian dictatorship" and has imposed sanctions on the foreign assets of state oil company, Belneftekhim, to press for democratic reforms.

Lukashenko told Vietnamese state media before his visit that Minsk and Hanoi "share similar viewpoints on the human rights issue and together fight against the 'double standards' that several countries impose on the issue."

"I believe that Belarus and Vietnam will conduct more coordinated actions to fight some nations' schemes to put political and economic pressure on countries that pursue independent internal and external policies," he was quoted as telling the Vietnam New Agency.

Vietnam -- which last year joined the World Trade Organisation and has strengthened ties with its former enemy, the United States -- also maintains close relations with other cold war allies, including North Korea and Cuba.

Two-way trade between the two countries reached 75 million dollars last year, Vietnamese state media said.

Vietnam exports rubber, rice, seafood, tea and cashew nuts to Belarus and imports fertiliser, trucks, tractors and automobile parts from there.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080407/wl_afp/vietnambelarusdiplomacy_080407074806

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