Hanoi (VNA) 🐭- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo in Hanoi on April 28, as part of the latter’s official trip to Vietnam and attendance at the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification from April 27-30.

Son welcomed the minister’s visit, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties. He affirmed Vietnam's policy of considering Tanzania a priority partner in Africa, suggested that the two countries facilitate the exchange of all-level delegations, particularly those at high level through Party, State, and National Assembly channels, as well as people-to-people exchanges. He proposed Tanzania consider opening an embassy in Vietnam to further uphold the strong political trust and usher in a new phase of bilateral cooperation across various fields. On economic and trade front, Son suggested diversifying the range of goods to increase trade volume and urged the Tanzanian Government to continue supporting the Viettel Group and other Vietnamese firms in their operations and involvement in digital transformation, e-government, and online public services in Tanzania.

To create a favourable legal framework for businesses, he proposed that the two countries expedite the completion of negotiations on investment protection and double taxation avoidance agreements. Kombo, in reply, said Tanzania has high expectations and hopes to continue expanding and diversifying its cooperation areas with Vietnam, especially in areas where Tanzania could learn from Vietnam’s expertise such as industrialisation, telecommunications, digital transformation, farm produce processing, post-harvest technologies, and mining. With its strategic location in East Africa, Tanzania is ready to serve as a gateway for Vietnam to access large markets such as the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), he said. He encouraged Vietnamese businesses to actively explore opportunities in Tanzania, consider increasing its import of goods in which Tanzania has strengths and that Vietnam has demand, such as cotton and minerals. Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the progress in bilateral ties, with Halotel, a Viettel Group project in Tanzania, standing out as a success story. Tanzania is also emerging as a leading supplier of raw cashew nuts to Vietnam in Africa, with the import turnover reaching over 240 million USD in the first quarter of this year, surpassing the 2024 total. They agreed to increase exchanges between ministries, agencies, localities, and businesses from both countries in new potential areas such as national defence, security, construction, human resource training, leadership, management, and experience sharing in the United Nations peacekeeping operations. They vowed to soon finalise the timing of the second meeting of the Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation to review cooperation, accelerate negotiations, and sign economic agreements, while actively preparing for high-ranking delegation exchanges in the near future. Host and guest committed to mutual support at multilateral forums, especially within the United Nations framework, regional organisations such as the African Union (AU), the ASEAN, and the East African Community (EAC). They pledged to discuss and coordinate stances on global issues for the benefit of their people, and for peace, stability, and cooperation in both regions. Son urged Tanzania to support ASEAN and Vietnam's stance on settling disputes in the East Sea through peaceful means in line with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.