In order to facilitate bilateral ties, Kazakhstan would open its Embassy in Viet Nam next year, said Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister S Sarubai.—File Photo

HA NOI (BizHub)— Viet Nam and Kazakhstan have agreed to speed up co-operation in various areas such as industry, trade, investment, tourism and aviation.

The consensus was reached at the sixth session of the Viet Nam-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific-Technological Co-operation in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

During the event, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang spoke highly of bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in trade and commerce.

He said the visits of Government leaders had helped to open a new page in the two countries' relationship.

In order to facilitate bilateral ties, Kazakhstan would open its Embassy in Viet Nam next year, said Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister S Sarubai.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade said that two-way trade had experienced encouraging growth in recent years, reaching US$85.6 million in 2012, up 176 per cent year-on-year.

Over the first half of this year, trade topped $74.7 million, surging over 200 per cent against the same period last year.

Viet Nam's major exports to Kazakhstan include phones and accessories, farm produce, garments and textiles, machinery and steel, while it imports chemicals, metals and ore.

In an effort to create a legal framework for economic and trade co-operation, the two nations have taken an initiative to start negotiations for a free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia earlier this year.

They have also accelerated co-ordination in tourism, aviation and investment with the launch of direct flights from Almaty to HCM City by Kazakhstan's national flag carrier, Air Astana. — VNS