- Could you please share the purpose, significance and importance of Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan’s official visit to Nepal?
At the invitation of Nepalese Vice President Ram Sahaya Yadav, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and a high-level Vietnamese delegation will pay an official visit to Nepal from 23–25 August 2025. After attending Nepal’s solemn official welcome ceremony, the Vice President will hold talks with Vice President Ram Sahaya Yadav, pay courtesy calls on Nepal’s senior leaders, meet the Vietnamese community in Nepal, and attend activities marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
This is the first visit by a Vice President of Viet Nam to Nepal and the highest-level visit by a Vietnamese leader to Nepal since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1975. The visit is of great significance as Viet Nam and Nepal are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations (1975–2025).
The visit reflects Viet Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization, and the importance attached by our Party and State to relations with traditional friends, including Nepal. It also meets Nepal’s wish to strengthen practical and mutually beneficial cooperation with Viet Nam.
Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan’s official visit to Nepal is an opportunity for both sides to review the progress achieved in bilateral relations over the past half-century, especially in recent years. At the same time, the Vice President will discuss with Nepalese leaders orientations and concrete measures to promote increasingly effective and substantive bilateral ties in the coming years. In the context of Nepal’s efforts to develop the country along socialist orientations, the leaders of the two countries can also share experiences and lessons in development.
- What are the most notable features in bilateral relations over the past 50 years?
Viet Nam and Nepal share cultural affinities and the aspirations for peace, national independence and sustainable development. Notably, the Nepalese people have united and given Viet Nam profound affection and strong support for our cause of national independence and reunification. These are important and favorable foundations for the relationship between the two countries.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on 15 May 1975, cooperation between the two countries has seen many positive developments over the past half-century. On the basis of deep trust, political relations have developed well. The two sides have actively promoted bilateral visits and contacts at high and all levels, most notably Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s official visit to Viet Nam in 2019, and this official visit by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan to Nepal. The two countries have also maintained close coordination and effectively supported each other at regional and international forums.
Economic–trade cooperation, though still modest, has made positive strides, with two-way trade remaining below USD 100 million per year. An increasing number of Vietnamese goods—especially agricultural and aquatic products, foodstuffs, industrial and consumer goods—are present in the Nepalese market. Nepal’s textiles and handicrafts are also becoming better known in Viet Nam.
Tourism between the two countries has also grown positively. More and more Vietnamese tourists visit Nepal, particularly to explore attractions in the Kathmandu Valley, the tourist paradise of Pokhara, the majestic Himalayas and to make pilgrimages to the Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini. Meanwhile, the number of Nepalese traveling to Viet Nam for tourism and to explore business opportunities is on the rise.
People-to-people exchanges are a bright spot in bilateral cooperation and are being expanded, creating a bridge of friendship and a solid public foundation for the relationship between the two countries. The friendship organizations of the two sides—the Viet Nam–Nepal Friendship Association and the Nepal Peace and Solidarity Council—play important roles and have operated effectively, regularly organizing exchanges, linkages and delegation visits, thereby contributing actively to enhancing mutual understanding between the peoples.
In addition, the Vietnamese community in Nepal—about 250 people—has made positive contributions to promoting Vietnamese culture and cuisine locally. In particular, Vietnamese pho restaurants in Kathmandu are very popular among Nepalese people.
Overall, although there have been many positive developments, relations between Viet Nam and Nepal remain modest and have yet to match the potential and aspirations of both sides.
- Economic–trade relations between the two countries are considered modest. In the current context, what should the two sides do to clear bottlenecks in bilateral economic cooperation?
To step up economic, trade and investment cooperation, I believe a range of synchronized measures is needed. Relevant ministries and agencies of the two countries should soon discuss the establishment of frameworks and mechanisms to enhance economic, trade and investment cooperation; at the same time, consider promoting cooperation agreements in specific fields such as labor, tourism, education, and so on.
In addition, the two sides should strengthen trade and investment promotion activities and encourage business delegations to visit each other. Through discussions with Nepalese officials and the business community, I understand that Nepal wishes to import consumer goods, machinery, processed agricultural products and construction materials, while seeking to attract investment in such areas as hydropower, renewable energy, smart agriculture and tourism. Nepal also has many notable products—especially handicrafts, medicinal materials and herbs—that Viet Nam could increase imports of.
I believe that enhancing air connectivity, especially opening a direct flight route between Viet Nam and Nepal, is of great importance—not only facilitating tourism and people-to-people exchanges but also supporting the operations of enterprises and businesspeople of the two countries.
I am confident that Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan’s official visit to Nepal will further promote cooperation between the two countries in a stronger, more effective and more substantive manner, including in trade, investment and tourism.
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