On January 17, 1992 Uzbekistan and Vietnam had signed a joint communique on establishing diplomatic relations. Today, the two friendly countries celebrate a quarter century of fruitful relations with a special celebration.

A solid foundation for the development of relations of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation was laid during the first official visit of the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to Vietnam in March 1996. For the last years members of Parliament and Government of Vietnam have visited to our country, including the deputy chairman of the National Assembly (parliament) Wang Tiu Liu in July 2008, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai in April 2010, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in October 2011, and others.

Since 2007 the foreign ministries of the two countries have been conducting political consultation, last 4^th round of which was taken place in March 2014 in Hanoi.

Our countries successfully cooperate within international organizations, in particular the UN and its agencies. Being an active participant in the Bangkok Treaty on the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia, Hanoi with great enthusiasm supported Tashkent’s initiative to establish such zone in Central Asia.

In general, over the past years 20 documents were signed regulating relations in the spheres of trade and investment, taxation, air transport, science and culture, tourism and other areas between the two countries. In order to intensify relations it was established the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation. In December 2013, VI session of the Commission was taken place in Hanoi, during which sides expressed mutual intention to increase trade and economic cooperation.

In our country there are 19 enterprises with the participation of Vietnamese investors, 3 of them are formed by 100% foreign capital. They work in the fields of textile production, trade and service. Largest Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation PetroVietnam conducts exploration in Ustyurt region of our country.

Despite the geographical distance, Uzbek and Vietnamese are showing great interest in the study of the rich cultural heritage of the two peoples. So, in December 1995, the Society of Friendship “Vietnam-Uzbekistan” was established whose leaders have visited our country in 2006 and 2008. In turn, the Masters of Arts of Uzbekistan are frequent visitors and participants cultural events conducted in Vietnam. In particular, they took an active part in the celebrations dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi in September-October 2010. In addition, in September 2012 Tashkent hosted the Days of Vietnamese culture with the participation of Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the country Le Khanh Hai.

The cooperation consistently expands between higher education and research institutions of Uzbekistan and Vietnam. For example, since 2012 a Center of the Vietnamese language and culture has been operating at Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies.

Thus, fruitful cooperation between Uzbekistan and Vietnam is developing consistently in various fields for the benefit of the two countries and peoples. We are confident that the parties will continue to actively use the new opportunities and prospects for more active cooperation on a mutually acceptable basis.