JOINT PRESS RELEASE BETWEEN BHUTAN AND VIET NAM

1. At the invitation of His Excellency Mr. Luong Cuong, President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and his Spouse, His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen made the first-ever State Visit from Bhutan to Viet Nam from 18 to 22 August 2025.

2. During the visit, Their Majesties were accorded a welcome ceremony. His Majesty The King held bilateral meetings with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam To Lam, President Luong Cuong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man. Their Majesties also paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum and laid a wreath at the Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs.

3. Both sides expressed happiness at the growing ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries and the mutual desire to further deepen cooperation across a broad spectrum of areas, including politics, economy, investment, trade, technology, education, culture, air connectivity, health, exchange of expertise, agriculture, environment, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges as well as multilateral collaboration in the regional and international arena.

4. Viet Nam’s Leaders commended the visionary Gelephu Mindfulness City initiative under His Majesty The King’s leadership, noting its objective to become a pioneering global model of regenerative, values-based urban development that will integrate traditional Bhutanese values and Buddhist spiritual heritage with internationally recognized legal frameworks, cutting-edge design and technology. They also welcomed the investment opportunities it presents in the City’s core economic clusters.

5. His Majesty The King expressed deep appreciation for Viet Nam’s remarkable socio-economic progress, the resilience and creativity of its people, and its dynamic path of modernization. His Majesty The King also lauded the success of Vietnamese leadership in transforming the country into one of the fastest growing economies and a thriving manufacturing hub in the region.

6. The two sides’ Leaders agreed to continue to promote closer political relations between Viet Nam and Bhutan, including increasing high-level visits and contacts, and exchange of delegations at various levels between ministries and agencies, as well as promoting people-to-people contacts.

7. Recognizing the rich cultural and religious heritage shared by Viet Nam and Bhutan, the two countries’ Leaders committed to enhance cultural exchanges and religious cooperation between the two countries including through intergovernmental cooperation, official delegations, and the sharing of expertise in religious affairs, as well as exchange of Buddhist scholars, monks and practitioners, joint spiritual programs, meditation retreats and teachings, conservation, protection and promotion of tangible, intangible and natural heritage, collaboration between museums and archives, performing arts, culinary heritage, and development of traditional
knowledge systems.

8. Both sides’ Leaders expressed desire to initiate negotiations on the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments, and other instruments between Bhutan and Viet Nam to enhance trade and promote investment. In that spirit, both sides encouraged the exchange of market information and import and export needs of each side to facilitate dissemination among the business communities of their respective countries and explored the possibility of discussing and negotiating MOUs on trade and investment cooperation in the future.

9. Bhutan conveyed appreciation for Vietnamese Foreign Direct Investment in Bhutan and welcomed further investment in Bhutan and the Gelephu Mindfulness City.

10. To enhance connectivity and promote greater people-to-people exchanges, the Heads of State welcomed the ongoing negotiations on the Air Service Agreement between the two sides and called for an early conclusion of the ASA.

11. Both sides reiterated the commitment to sustainability, environmental conservation and combating climate change.

12. The two sides expressed commitment to share best practices, expertise and technology in agriculture, renewable energy, organic farming, green development solutions, IT, science, technology, manufacturing and eco-tourism. The two sides will undertake joint projects, explore value chain addition and facilitate market access for each other’s products and services.

13. Both sides underscored the importance of human resource development, skilling and educational cooperation, and encouraged the exchange of student as well as technical assistance in vocational training, skills development, and expertise in agriculture, science and technology, IT and manufacturing.

14. Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector through joint promotion, leveraging respective advantages, and providing policy support to increase the number of visitors.

15. Both sides commended the cooperation between the two countries in multilateral fora such as United Nations and Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) and committed to further strengthen cooperation on issues of mutual interest.

16. During the visit, the following bilateral documents were signed:

(i) Memorandum of Understanding on the Framework for Cooperation between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Royal Government of Bhutan.

(ii) Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Royal Government of Bhutan, and the Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Construction, The Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

17. Both sides’ Leaders recommended that the Foreign Ministries of Bhutan and Viet Nam maintain regular consultation to review ongoing cooperation, further strengthen engagements both bilaterally and multilaterally, discuss issues of mutual interest, and work together to promote shared priorities.

18. His Majesty The King expressed his gratitude to the Leaders and the people of Viet Nam for their warm hospitality and cordial reception accorded to the Bhutanese delegation and extended invitation to Viet Nam’s Leaders to make visits to the Kingdom of Bhutan.