Azerbaijan, Vietnam mull ties in legal sphere
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani and Vietnamese officials have discussed the bilateral relations in legal sphere.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Farhad Abdullayev has met a Vietnamese delegation led by Chairman of the Legal Committee of the Vietnamese National Assembly Phan Trung Ly, AzerTag news agency reported.
Abdullayev hailed the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Vietnam in a number of fields, including legal ones. He stressed the importance of the Vietnamese delegation`s visit to Baku.
He said Azerbaijan was dynamically developing over the last few years thanks to national leader Heydar Aliyev`s far-sighted policy, which is being successfully continued by President Ilham Aliyev.
Abdullayev underlined the importance of expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Vietnam.
Touching upon high-level reciprocal visits, Abdullayev noted that President Aliyev`s visit to Vietnam opened wide opportunities for the development of bilateral cooperation.
He also informed the Vietnamese delegation on the history of the Court, which was established in 1998.
Phan Trung Ly, for his part, said Vietnam was interested in development of cooperation with Azerbaijan.
He lauded Azerbaijan`s achievements in recent years. Phan Trung Ly also spoke of the legislative system of Vietnam.
During their visit to Azerbaijan, the Vietnamese delegation earlier met with First Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov, members of the Azerbaijani Parliament's Committee on Law Policy and State Building, as well as the members of a working group on inter-parliamentary relations between Azerbaijan and Vietnam.
Vietnam recognized Azerbaijan's independence in December 1991. The two countries established diplomatic relations in September 1992. Azerbaijan officially opened its embassy in Hanoi in December 2013. Vietnam does not have an embassy in Azerbaijan, which has made it difficult for Azerbaijani citizens to obtain visas. According to the new rules, Azerbaijani citizens only need to provide the relevant documents given by the Vietnamese travel agencies regarding their trip in order to get a visa.
Vietnam - Azerbaijan relations have been fraternal and traditional. There is no outstanding issue between the two countries. During the Soviet times, Azerbaijan helped Vietnam educate and train many students and officials at graduate level, especially in oil and gas industry.