Algiers (VNA) – Vietnam and Senegal will complete the necessary legal steps to ink a number ofagreements to boost bilateral trade and investment.

The twosides reached the agreement at working sessions held during a visit of Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria and Senegal Nguyen Thanh Vinh, accompaniedby the defence attaché andtrade counsellor of Vietnam to Algeria, to Senegal from March 8 – 14.

Ambassador Vinhpresented his letter of credentials to Senegalese President Macky Sall on March10, followed by a reception hosted by the president.

President Sallhighlighted the Vietnam – Senegal relations, saying the two countries are friends with long-standing ties. He reiterated thatSenegal wants to further boost cooperation with Vietnam in multiple sectors,particularly trade, investment, agriculture and industry.

The presidentemphasised the close partnership between the two nations in agriculture,with Vietnam sending many experts to share experience and helping the Senegalese people developpaddy rice farming, contributing to strengthening the African country’s foodsecurity.

The Vietnamesediplomat, for his part, said Vietnam always attaches importance to traditionalrelations and multi-faceted cooperation with Senegal in areas where both sideshave advantages, such as agriculture, sea-based economy and trade.

He vowed to dohis utmost in his new position to foster friendship and cooperation between thetwo countries.

AmbassadorVinh also had separate working sessions with Senegal’s Ministry of ForeignAffairs, Ministry of Commerce, and Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during whichthe two sides again affirmed they hold great potential to expand partnerships in agriculture, trade, marine economy andinformation technology.

The two sidesagreed to continue completing a legal framework for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding onindustry and trade and agreements on investment protection and double taxationavoidance to encourage more of their businesses to invest and do tradewith each other.

They will alsoincrease exchanges of tradepromotion delegations and take part in large international trade fairs andexhibitions on each side, forexample, the Vietnam Expo andFoire Internationale de Dakar.

The Senegalese side asked Vietnam to share experience ininternational integration and signing free trade agreements with major partnersaround the world, and hopedto see more Vietnamese firms investing in cashew nutand fruit processing, rice production and telecommunication services.

Vietnam andSenegal set up diplomatic ties in December, 1969. In 2019, Vietnam’s exports toSenegal totalled 52.56 million USD, doubling the previous year’sfigure. The exports included 32 million USD worth of rice.

Meanwhile,Vietnam’s imports from the African country plunged 50 percent to 15 millionUSD./.