Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng expressed his pleasure in welcoming the Ambassador for a visit and work, and extended his wishes for Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou to have an excellent term of service in Vietnam.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng had a meeting and working session with the Belarusian Ambassador to Vietnam, Uladzimir Baravikou.
Sharing about the cooperation results between Vietnam and Belarus, the Minister emphasized the traditional friendship, as well as the efforts for socio-economic development, including the field of culture, sports, and tourism between the two countries today.
"The cooperation documents implemented in the cultural field over the past 3 years have yielded very encouraging results." Vietnam and Belarus have maintained the organization of the program "Vietnamese Culture Days in Belarus" in 2015 and 2018, and "Belarusian Culture Days in Vietnam" in 2014, 2017, and 2023, thereby further promoting mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries, turning this into a soft power in the development of bilateral relations. Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng shared. Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng shared.
Recently, the two Parties have coordinated to implement cultural and artistic cooperation activities. Notably, the two sides signed the "Program of Cooperation in the Field of Culture and Arts between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Culture of Belarus for the period 2023-2025" in May 2023. Or the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism supporting Belarus in organizing a special concert program "Belarus Night in Hanoi in December 2024."
In the field of sports, Vietnam has received assistance from Belarus in training and coaching, helping Vietnamese sports achieve many encouraging results at international sporting events, especially at the continental level. A specific example is in August 2023, when the Vietnamese Sports delegation, consisting of 18 members in 3 sports (Wrestling, Weightlifting, and Swimming), participated in the CIS Games in Belarus. After 10 days of competition in Belarus, the Vietnamese delegation successfully completed their assigned tasks, winning 07 medals (including 05 silver medals and 02 bronze medals), ranking 9th among 22 participating countries.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Vietnam, and the National Tourism Agency of Belarus held an online meeting to discuss the potential for tourism cooperation between the two countries, agreeing to coordinate and unite to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and recover tourism development in the new normal context. Vietnam and Belarus have implemented a bilateral visa exemption policy, creating very favorable conditions for the development of tourism cooperation. The number of Belarusian tourists visiting Vietnam has been gradually increasing each year, reaching approximately over 15,000 visits in 2024.
Summarizing the results achieved between Vietnam and Belarus in recent times, Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng affirmed: the highlights in three areas have met the set requirements. To achieve these results, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism highly appreciates the connecting role of Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou.
Deputy Director of the Sports Authority, Lê Thị Hoàng Yến, attended the reception.
Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou expressed his pleasure in meeting and working with Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng and thanked the Minister for taking the time to receive him. Citing the Minister's assessment of the achievements between Vietnam and Belarus in recent times, Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou believes that these results will contribute to strengthening the cooperative relationship between the two countries, especially in the fields of culture, sports, and tourism.
Mentioning the event "Hanoi Days in Minsk," Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou expressed his hope that the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism would accompany and support the successful organization of this event. In addition, Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou also proposed the idea of organizing large-scale art performances, photo exhibitions, and film screenings in both countries. Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou believes that these activities will attract the interest of a large number of people from both countries, thereby helping the people of Belarus better understand the history and culture of Vietnam and vice versa.
In the field of sports, Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou shared that Belarus has the infrastructure to host major events, including the Olympic Games. The training infrastructure also meets high standards, which is why Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou hopes to promote cooperation in the field of sports between Belarus and Vietnam in the near future. Belarus is ready to support and create conditions for the development of Vietnamese sports.
Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng thanked Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou for his agreement on further promoting cooperation in the field of culture, sports, and tourism between the two countries, and expressed the hope that Ambassador Uladzimir Baravikou would continue to play an active bridging role to effectively implement cultural, sports, and tourism activities in the near future.
Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng emphasized: the potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Belarus in the field of culture, sports, and tourism is very large, and both sides need to make significant efforts to effectively exploit the untapped potentials. In the near future, the cooperative relationship needs to become substantive, with clear content and implementation timelines, so that it can be approached in the direction of implementing the cultural cooperation program for the period 2023-2025; sending artistic delegations from each country to participate in international art festivals held in the territories of both countries; creating conditions and promoting the establishment of direct cooperative relationships between the cultural agencies, units, and organizations of both countries.
In the field of sports, Belarus will support sending experts in strong disciplines to train the Vietnamese national team, as well as create conditions for some sports to train in Belarus.
Along with that, enhance the exchange of tourism information, while promoting the implementation of the tourism cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Belarus.
Huyen Trang