Viet Nam and Myanmar share a traditional friendship and are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing after taking the oath in Naypyidaw on April 10, 2026 (Photo: AP) |
The two countries officially established diplomatic relations on May 28, 1975, but ties between their people date back much further. President Ho Chi Minh and General Aung San laid an early foundation for bilateral friendship, with Myanmar President U Nu visiting Viet Nam in November 1954 and President Ho Chi Minh visiting Myanmar in February 1958.
Over more than 50 years, the bilateral ties have steadily developed across various fields. The two countries upgraded their relations to a Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership in August 2017.
Viet Nam consistently attaches importance to cooperation with Myanmar and supports its socio-economic development and national reconciliation. Myanmar, for its part, values Viet Nam’s development achievements and prioritizes strengthening the Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership, while facilitating Vietnamese businesses’ investment and operations in the country.
The two countries have also supported each other in times of difficulty. Following Myanmar’s devastating earthquake on March 28, 2025, Viet Nam promptly sent a more than 100-member rescue and relief team comprising military and public security personnel, together with medical supplies and essential goods, and provided 300,000 USD in aid for the country's recovery efforts. In August 2024, the Viet Nam Red Cross Society also provided 200,000 USD to its Myanmar counterpart to help address the aftermath of Typhoon Mocha.
High-level exchanges have been maintained. Most recently, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung paid an official visit to Myanmar and co-chaired the 10th meeting of the Viet Nam-Myanmar Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation on August 25-26, 2026, helping to consolidate the bilateral ties and promote practical cooperation.
At the meeting, the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation through Party, State, Government, parliamentary and local channels, as well as people-to-people diplomacy, toward the 10th anniversary of their Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership in 2027.
They identified infrastructure, information technology, consumer goods manufacturing, agriculture and digital transformation as priority areas, and set a goal of soon raising two-way trade to 1 billion USD. The two sides also agreed to enhance defense and security cooperation, including training, young officers’ exchanges, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, bomb and mine clearance and military medicine.
Expanding economic cooperation
Economic and trade ties are a bright spot in the bilateral relations, with two-way trade averaging about 500 million USD annually. In the first six months of 2026, bilateral trade reached 336.28 million USD, up 26.3% year-on-year. Maintaining this pace could bring full-year trade to 670-750 million USD.
As of June 2026, Viet Nam had 107 valid investment projects in Myanmar with total registered capital of 1.4 billion USD. Major Vietnamese investors include Mytel in telecommunications and digital infrastructure, HAGL Myanmar Center/THACO in property and commercial services, and the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) and other firms in banking, manufacturing and agriculture.
Vietnamese businesses see significant potential for cooperation in agriculture and food processing, energy, digital infrastructure, essential goods and reconstruction, logistics and finance.
Duc said Myanmar remains a promising market for Vietnamese businesses, with Vietnamese products generally matching local consumer preferences. He called for stronger political trust and economic cooperation, particularly in agriculture, fisheries, food processing, telecommunications and electric vehicle manufacturing, alongside greater cultural, tourism, educational and people-to-people exchanges and more direct air routes.
He also stressed the need for closer coordination at ASEAN and Mekong sub-regional mechanisms.
Against this backdrop, President Min Aung Hlaing’s upcoming visit is particularly significant as this is his first official visit to Viet Nam since Myanmar completed its general election in January and formed a new government in April 2026.
The visit is expected to strengthen traditional friendship and political trust, expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and demonstrate Viet Nam’s proactive, constructive and responsible role in supporting ASEAN’s efforts to promote peace, stability and sustainable development in Myanmar and the wider region, while contributing to ASEAN Community building.
Source: VNA