Algier​s (VNA) – Vietnam and Mali have agreed ona number of measures to beef up bilateral cooperation in economics and tradeduring recent meetings between Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Quoc Tru and senior Malianofficials in Bamako.

Pham Quoc Tru, who is Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeriaand Mali, met with the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Trade andCompetition, the Minister of Industrial Development, the Secretary General ofthe Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chairman of Permanent Assembly ofthe Chambers of Agriculture from Mali.

During their meetings as part Tru’s trip to Mali topresent his letter of credentials to Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitafrom March 23-29, the two sides showed confidence in bright prospects of bilateraleconomic-trade relations and discussed ways to accelerate the ties in thecoming time, he told Vietnam News Agency.

The two nations agreed to take more drastic steps toboost their economic-trade ties in the coming years, according to theambassador. They plan to sign a series of pacts to improve legal framework forthe enhanced cooperation, including a memorandum of understanding on trade andindustry, agreements on investment promotion and protection, and doubletaxation avoidance, and a cooperation document between their Chambers ofCommerce and Industry, he added.

They also agreed to soon hold the first meeting of theVietnam-Mali Inter-Governmental Committee set up in 1994 and increase theexchange of visits at all levels, especially visits by businesses to tradefairs of each country such as the 28th Vietnam International Trade Fair(Vietnam Expo) in April and Mali international industry fair the same month, hesaid.

Both sides will facilitate exports of fabrics, clothing,seafood, chemicals, rice, pepper, coffee, and agricultural mechanic products toMali and imports of cotton, gold and cattle from Mali.

According to statistics by the Vietnam Customs, Vietnam’sexports to Mali were valued at 30.2 million USD, including 26.6 million USDworth of crude oil, while imports from the African country reached 42.4 millionUSD, of which cotton accounted for 42.3 million USD.

During 2005-2009, Vietnam sent 12 agricultural expertsand technicians to work in Mali under a quadripartite agreement on thesustainable development programme for Yelimane region, which involved Vietnam, Mali, France and the UnitedNations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The project was highlyappreciated by the Malian President, Tru said.

However, it was suspended in March 2012 due to politicalunrest in Mali. The two sides are considering the possibility to resume the programme,he added.

Vietnam and Mali established diplomatic relations inOctober 10, 1960, just a month after Mali declared its independence. In 1962,Vietnam opened its embassy in Mali, which was one of two first embassies inAfrica.-VNA