The Kazakh President arrived in Hanoi on August 20 for an official vist from August 20-22 at the invitation of President Thuong.

The two Presidents held talks right after the welcome ceremony.

Before the welcome ceremony, President Tokayev and his entourage laid a wreath at the monument to war martyrs and paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum.

This is the first visit of a Kazakh President to Vietnam in 12 years, and also the first time Tokayev visits Vietnam in his new position.

Vietnam and Kazakhstan set up their diplomatic ties on June 29, 1992. Since then, the bilateral relations have been developing well in various fields.

In July 2008, the Vietnamese Embassy in Kazakhstan was put into operation, while the Central Asian country opened its embassy in Hanoi in March 2015.

The two countries have maintained regular high-level delegation exchanges as well as collaboration in both the bilateral framework and at multilateral forums.

The good political relationship has opened up many opportunities for economic and trade ties. Since the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU - including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) took effect in 2016, Kazakhstan has become the second biggest trade partner of Vietnam in the EAEU. In 2021, Vietnam-Kazakhstan trade accounted for 10% of total trade between the Vietnam-EAEU.

The visit of President Tokayev marks a new chapter in the Vietnam-Kazakhstan economic-trade-tourism cooperation. The two sides are expected to sign over 10 cooperation agreements during the visit./.VNA