President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay an official visit to Vietnam from March 25 to 27 to foster traditional friendly relations between the two countries, a Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The two sides are to exchange experience in implementing renovation policies, discuss orientations for strengthening bilateral cooperation, especially that on economy and trade, and sign some documents which will lay foundations for the cooperation, spokesman Le Dung said at a regular briefing.

Lukashenko is scheduled to hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet, and meet with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nong Duc Manh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong. The Belarussian president will also attend a Vietnam-Belarus business forum.

The two-way trade between Vietnam and Belarus rose 7 million U. S. dollars to 49.4 million dollars in 2006, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry. Vietnam mainly exports latex, rice, seafood, tea and cashew nuts to Belarus, and imports fertilizers, trucks, tractors, and automobile and motorbike parts from Belarus.

Source: Xinhua