Myanmar junta leader visits Vietnam to rebuild ASEAN ties — SkimNews
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- Min Aung Hlaing landed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at noon Friday for a three-day visit expected to include meetings with Vietnamese President To Lam and other senior officials, plus a business forum with his Cabinet.
- The trip is Min Aung Hlaing's third visit to an ASEAN member state as he works to restore standing within the 11-member bloc after being barred from top-level meetings for failing to comply with the bloc's April 2021 peace plan for Myanmar.
- Min Aung Hlaing has stepped up diplomatic outreach since being sworn in as president in April following an election critics say was designed to cement the military's hold on power.
- He has recently traveled to India, China, Laos, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia, meeting leaders and seeking foreign investment through business forums.
- Vietnam has longstanding military ties with Myanmar, including defense cooperation and Viettel—Vietnam's military-run telecom group—holding a stake in Mytel, one of Myanmar's major telecom operators.
- Bilateral trade has weakened sharply, falling from $853 million in 2020 to $590 million in 2025 and $335 million in the first half of 2026, figures Min Aung Hlaing shared with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung in late August.
- Western governments have sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing and his associates for overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February 2021 and for serious human rights violations committed since.
Why it matters: For Myanmar's junta, selective reentry into ASEAN diplomatic channels provides legitimacy and a potential investment lifeline amid Western sanctions, while the bilateral trade figures—from $853M in 2020 to just $335M in the first half of 2026—show the economic gap Min Aung Hlaing urgently needs to close through forums like the one in Hanoi.
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