The visit of the President of Mongolia is of special significance.

On the occasion of Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's visit to Vietnam from November 1-5, ahead of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, reporters interviewed Mr. Doan Khanh Tam, Vietnamese Ambassador to Mongolia, about the relationship between the two countries as well as the significance of President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's visit.

Summarizing the long-standing, actively developing traditional friendship between Vietnam and Mongolia, Ambassador Doan Khanh Tam said that on November 17, 1954, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) and the Government of the Mongolian People's Republic (now Mongolia) officially established diplomatic relations.

President Ho Chi Minh's first visit to Mongolia in July 1955 and the visit of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal to Vietnam in September 1959 laid the foundation for the extremely good traditional friendship between the people of the two countries.

In the general fluctuations of the world situation, after the transformation of the social regime from socialism to capitalist democracy and the transformation of the market economy in the early 1990s, Mongolia still values ​​the traditional friendship with Vietnam, considering Vietnam as one of the important partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mongolian President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat paid an official visit to Vietnam in March 1994. The two sides issued a Joint Statement, outlining the basic principles for bilateral relations in accordance with the new situation.

Notably, during President Tran Duc Luong's official visit to Mongolia in April 2000, the two sides signed the 3rd Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, bringing the relationship between the two countries to a new level.

This was followed by a visit by Mongolian President Natsagiin Bagabandi to Vietnam in January 2005. In December 2012, the two sides exchanged official diplomatic notes recognizing each other's full market economy status.

Most recently, Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj paid an official visit to Vietnam in November 2013; Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid an official visit to Mongolia on the occasion of attending the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM-11) Summit in July 2016; Speaker of the Mongolian Parliament Miyegombyn Enkhbold visited Vietnam in January 2018.

Maintaining visits and contacts between high-ranking leaders of the two countries has significantly contributed to consolidating and enhancing political trust and mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

At the meeting between President Vo Van Thuong and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on the sidelines of the British King's coronation ceremony in May this year in London and the meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene on the sidelines of the Summer Davos Forum in June in Tianjin, China, the leaders of the two countries affirmed their importance and desire to continue to strengthen and consolidate bilateral relations between the two countries in all fields, for the benefit of the people of each country, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The people of Vietnam and Mongolia can be completely proud of the traditional relationship between the two countries that has been built on the basis of understanding and trust, support and mutual assistance.

That special relationship has been tested through every period of history. The Vietnamese people always remember the sincere affection, support and valuable assistance that the Mongolian State and people gave to Vietnam in the struggle for national independence and reunification.

The Vietnamese State and people, with their capabilities, help the Mongolian people when they encounter difficulties due to natural disasters or during the transition to a market economy.

That mutual support and assistance, together with the long-standing tradition of relations, the attention of the leaders of the two countries, abundant resources, and increasingly high production capacity, have been, are, and will be a solid foundation and a lever for the development of cooperation between the two countries in all fields of economics, trade, science, technology, education, culture, sports, and tourism, etc., meeting the expectations of the Vietnamese and Mongolian people.

According to Ambassador Doan Khanh Tam, the relationship between the provinces, cities and localities of the two countries is also quite close.

Up to now, there have been a number of twinned relationships such as: Hanoi capital with Ulaanbaatar capital; Ho Chi Minh City with Ulaanbaatar capital; Hoan Kiem district and Bayanzurkh district; Hoa Binh province and Tuv province; Dak Lak province with Orkhon province; Thu Duc district (now Thu Duc city) with Chingeltei district; currently, the Vietnamese Embassy in Mongolia is promoting the establishment of twinned relationships between Phu Tho province and Darkhan-Uul province.

Talking about the significance of President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's visit to Vietnam this time, Ambassador Doan Khanh Tam affirmed that this visit has special significance not only within the framework of bilateral cooperation but also opens up great development possibilities in the region and internationally.

President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's official visit to Vietnam this time is an important milestone, opening a new page in the history of Vietnam-Mongolia relations on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations in 2024.

This is the fourth State visit of a Mongolian President to Vietnam after 10 years since the visit to Vietnam of Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in November 2013.

The high-level agreements on cooperation directions between the two countries during this visit will create an important legal basis to help the two countries remove difficulties and obstacles, promote cooperation in areas where the two countries have strengths such as agriculture, mining, tourism, etc., and make practical contributions to balancing the trade balance which is currently 95% in favor of Vietnam.

According to Ambassador Doan Khanh Tam, Mongolia is a very large country with strengths in rich mineral reserves and abundant livestock.

Vietnam should expand cooperation between enterprises in the fields of mining, exploitation of rare earth metals and essential elements, important materials in the production of electric vehicles, green development, combating climate change and reducing air pollution; importing livestock products from Mongolia...

Meanwhile, Vietnam's strength is having a market of more than 100 million people with a young population in its golden population period and a rapidly growing middle class.

The two governments need to promote, support and connect businesses of the two countries in all fields with potential and complementary strengths.

Mongolian businesses will have the opportunity to access the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market as well as the large global market because Vietnam is a partner that has signed more than 17 free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Economic cooperation between Vietnam and Mongolia has seen positive developments in recent years.

Vietnam-Mongolia bilateral trade turnover has doubled, from 41.4 million USD in 2017 to more than 85 million USD in 2022 and reached about 75 million USD in the first 8 months of 2023.

In short, the two countries have a lot of potential and advantages to promote cooperation in the fields of agriculture, tourism, education and training, science, information technology, digital transformation, digital economy, energy, oil and gas exploration and processing as well as participating in projects in the fields of energy, renewable energy, wind power and solar power.

Ambassador Doan Khanh Tam expressed his firm belief that the Vietnam-Mongolia relationship with 70 years of history will continue to be consolidated and developed with many good results.