Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam has made an official visitto Senegal as a special envoy of the President.
 
During hisvisit between April 13 and 15, he had a meeting with Senegalese President MackySall to convey an invitation to visit Vietnam from President Tran Dai Quang.

Nam also hadworking sessions with Senegal’s ministers of Foreign Affairs, Fisheries andMaritime Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Equipment, and representatives from thelocal Ministry of Trade.

At thesemeetings, the Vietnamese official stressed precious support of the SenegaleseGovernment and people toward Vietnam’s struggle for national liberation and expressedsupport for President Macky Sall’s policies to turn Senegal into an emergingmarket in 2035.

Briefing ondevelopments of disputes in the East Sea through history and in recent years, heaffirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of settling disputes by peaceful measuresin line with international law.

TheSenegalese side spoke of Vietnam’s stance on the issue.

Senegal iscommitted to supporting Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

On theoccasion, Senegal shared its experience in the management of the Senegal River,which runs through Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, and invited Vietnam totake part in its initiative of building a legal document on the use of waterresources within the framework of UN forums.

Both sidesagreed to boost economic ties to be on par with sound political relations, and soonsign an agreement to set up a joint committee so that it could convene itsfirst meeting in 2017 in preparation for President Macky Sall’s visit toVietnam.

They consideredthe signing of a memorandum of understanding on trade and industrialcooperation as well as agreements on visa exemption for official and diplomaticpassport holders, double tax avoidance and investment promotion and protection.

Theyhighlighted that honorary consuls to their respective countries would soon beassigned to boost trade.

Vietnamexpressed concerns over reducing bilateral trade from nearly 200 million USD in2012 to about 50 million USD in 2016. Senegal attributed the reduction to itscut on rice import from Vietnam, as the country has been close to itsself-sufficient goal.

Both sidestargeted diversifying traded commodities as a measure to underpin bilateraltrade, with priorities given to a number of products including agriculturalmachinery, fertilizers, apparel, and phone components.

Vietnamsaid it is willing to welcome Senegalese students to study marine navigation andagriculture, while Senegal said its market is open for Vietnamese investors inthe production of rice and fishery products and mining.

As part ofhis visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Nam, who is also head of the State Committeefor Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, visited the Vietnamese expat community inSenegal.-VNA