Lots of room for cooperation
This morning, in Hanoi , Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions Dao Ngoc Dung had a meeting with Mr. Kohdayar Marri - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Vietnam.
Ambassador Kohdayar Marri expressed his gratitude to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung for taking the time to welcome him, and said that the Pakistani Embassy is actively preparing for the event where the Pakistani Government presents the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha with a statue of Buddha Shakyamuni.
After more than a year of working in Vietnam, the Ambassador emphasized the desire of the Pakistani Government to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam and join hands to build peace and harmony between nations and peoples.
“Vietnam and Pakistan still have a lot of room for cooperation in culture, religion, trade, economy, politics, defense, etc. In the coming time, we can coordinate to carry out many activities such as organizing events, exploiting common points, etc. to promote ethnic and religious harmony between countries,” the Ambassador expressed.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung also highly appreciated the potential for cooperation between the two countries and commented that the actual results in recent times have not been commensurate with the potential.
According to the Minister, Vietnam and Pakistan have some things in common: Both are countries with large ethnic minorities; both respect religious beliefs and freedom of non-religious beliefs.
2 proposals of the Minister of Ethnic Minorities and Religions
The Minister suggested that the Ambassador promote his role as a bridge to promote Vietnam - Pakistan cooperation, especially in two areas.
Firstly, promoting trade between the two countries, creating the most favorable conditions for Vietnam's strong products to be exported to Pakistan, and vice versa, Pakistan's potential products and greatest advantages will be increasingly present in the Vietnamese market.
“In the coming time, Vietnam will have fundamental decisions in national governance and economic development. We rely on the four pillars of development, in which science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation are the foundation and core; focusing on training talented cadres for the country. We still identify the private economy as an important driving force for national development. We will also make a very strong breakthrough in infrastructure. In addition to highways, the entire airport system will be upgraded and invested in, and the seaport system will also be invested in,” the Minister informed.
Second , connect and cooperate in the field of ethnicity and religion. In the ethnic field, we will focus on investing in the development of ethnic minorities so that they can have a fuller, more prosperous life and not be left behind.
“Ethnic minority and mountainous areas are “lowland areas” with many difficulties in both hard and soft infrastructure. Ethnic minorities are the most disadvantaged. In the coming time, Vietnam will invest heavily in these areas and groups,” said the Minister.
The Minister was pleased to share with the Ambassador some of Vietnam's great achievements. Notably, by the end of August 2025, nearly 300,000 temporary and dilapidated houses for the poor and disadvantaged people, many of whom are from mountainous areas and ethnic minorities, will have been eliminated; reaching the target 5 years and 4 months ahead of the original target (2030).
Regarding education, in addition to exempting tuition fees and providing free lunches, we will move towards the goal of providing state support for students in remote areas; from now until the beginning of the next school year, we will build 248 schools for primary and secondary school students in border and island communes, with an average of 7-8 million USD/school, including accommodation, entertainment, and physical development.
“I would like to share more information so that the Ambassador can understand better, and from now on we can coordinate and support each other better in the field of ethnic affairs,” said the Minister.
In the field of religion, the Minister also hopes that the Ambassador will be a bridge to strengthen cooperation to improve the effectiveness of state management, create conditions for religions to operate within the legal framework, and promote the country's development.
Once again expressing his gratitude for the warm welcome and the useful information shared by Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Vietnam affirmed his readiness to cooperate and support Vietnam in all fields in the coming time.
Vietnam and Pakistan established diplomatic relations on November 8, 1972. In the early years, relations were interrupted due to geopolitical fluctuations. Since the early 2000s, the two countries have re-established relations and promoted comprehensive cooperation. Pakistan considers Vietnam a strategic partner in its “East Asia Vision” policy, while Vietnam strongly supports Pakistan becoming a full dialogue partner of ASEAN. In 2024, bilateral trade turnover between the two countries will reach about 850 million USD. In the first 6 months of 2025, the turnover is approaching the 1 billion USD mark. Pakistan is one of the largest Halal markets in the world and has become an important Halal product import partner of Vietnam. Vietnam exports to Pakistan items such as tea, phones, seafood, chemicals, etc.; while Pakistan exports to Vietnam corn, pharmaceuticals, leather, cotton, etc. The goal is to reach 10 billion USD in two-way trade turnover in the next 5 years. The two countries also have many cooperation activities in the fields of education, training, defense, humanitarian assistance, etc. |
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/viet-nam-pakistan-nhieu-tiem-nang-hop-tac-ve-dan-toc-ton-giao-2426861.html
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