President Tran Dai Quang (left) and his Ethiopian counterpart Mulatu Teshome. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) –President Tran Dai Quang’s state visits to Ethiopia and Egypt from August 23-28have created new momentum for bilateral relations between Vietnam and the twocountries, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Hong Nam has said.
He made the statement tothe press following the leader’s visits, highlighting the trips’ success ascreating a historical milestone for bilateral ties.
Vietnam and Ethiopia agreedto step up the exchange of delegations, especially at a high level, in order topush the impetus for bilateral relations, while also intensifying theircoordination at multilateral forums, particularly within the framework of theUnited Nations (UN).
Ethiopia also committed tosharing its experience with Vietnam in UN peacekeeping operations, Nam said.
Meanwhile, PresidentQuang’s visit to Egypt from August 25-28 demonstrated Vietnam’s wish to promoteits relationship with the country in a practical and effective manner.
President Tran Dai Quang (second, left) and his spouse were welcomed by Egyptian Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and his spouse. (Source: VNA) The two sides agreed tofurther enhance their ties; increase all-level delegation exchanges via Party,Government, and National Assembly channels and people-to-people diplomacy; and supporteach other at multilateral forums such as the UN, South-South cooperation, andthe Francophone community.
Nam stressed that the mainpurpose of President Quang’s visits was to forge economic, trade, andinvestment cooperation with Ethiopia and Egypt.
As such, the President heldin-depth discussions with Ethiopian and Egyptian leaders on concrete measuresto turn their potential into specific results, including creating favourableconditions for businesses to cooperate and penetrate the respective markets.
Vietnam offered to helpEthiopia and Egypt access ASEAN markets while, on the other hand, Vietnameseenterprises would further their reach to African and Arab markets through thetwo countries, Nam added.
The leaders also talkedabout measures to reinforce collaboration in other fields like agriculture,telecommunications and information-technology, culture, tourism, fishery,transportation, and education-training.
During the visits, Vietnamsigned several cooperation documents with the two countries, covering trade,agriculture, finance, oil, training, and cooperation between localities.
At the end of the visits,Vietnam and the two countries issued joint statements chalking up majororientations to boost bilateral ties in the future, the Deputy Minister said.
On this occasion, PresidentQuang visited the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in the Ethiopiancapital city of Adis Abiba and had a meeting with AU Acting President AmiraElfadil Mohammed Elfadil to discuss cooperationorientations between Vietnam and the union, as well as its members in variousspheres – economy, trade, and investment in particular.
The establishmentof the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the determinationof AU member countries to step up reforms could create many opportunities forVietnamese businesses if they know how to utilise them, Nam said.
He notedthat President Quang and the AU Acting President concurred to soon establish asuitable dialogue mechanism to promote comprehensive cooperation betweenVietnam and the union, as well as closely coordinate with each other at multilateralforums, for the sake of developing nations. –VNA
VNA
