Hanoi, January 8 (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with Prof. Robert Dussey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Togolese Abroad of Togo in Hanoi on January 8. Welcoming Minister Robert Dussey and the Togolese delegation on their official visit, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries (February 8, 1975-2025), Son affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to its friendship and cooperation with African nations, including Togo. He added that political trust serves as a crucial foundation for further promoting bilateral collaboration in various fields in the coming time. Expressing his desire for increasingly effective and substantive cooperation, especially in the areas of trade, investment, agriculture, seaports, and mining, Son proposed both sides exchange their lists of goods with competitive advantages to boost bilateral trade, particularly rice, garments and textiles, leather and footwear, electric vehicles, and agricultural machinery. He also suggested Togo provide information on investment cooperation opportunities so that Vietnamese enterprises can research and carry out market development activities. With nearly 40 years of successful renewal experience, Vietnam is ready to cooperate with Togo in sharing development experience, building reform policies, promoting international integration, industrialisation, agricultural development, and education and training, culture, and sports, Son stated, adding that the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is willing to explore the possibility of establishing training and student exchange programmes, and a young diplomat programme between the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and its counterpart in Togo. Regarding cooperation in multilateral forums, he proposed Togo support Vietnam's candidacies for important multilateral mechanisms such as the Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the United Nations Security Council, and the President of the UN General Assembly. He also called for Togo’s backing for Vietnam in enhancing cooperation and contributing to the common agendas of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Regarding regional issues, the host urged Togo to support ASEAN’s and Vietnam's stance on the East Sea, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes based on international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to ensure peace, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea. For his part, the foreign minister of Togo emphasised that bilateral cooperation has yet to fully reflect the potential and strengths of each country, especially in economy, trade, and investment. He highlighted the significant room for development, particularly in seaports, tourism, and aviation. Agreeing with Son’s proposals, Robert Dussey thanked Vietnam for its support in implementing a technical assistance project to improve rice cultivation in Togo. He expressed his hope to expand and promote trilateral cooperation in agriculture, with financial support from development partners like the World Bank, and Vietnam's assistance in sharing experience, transferring technology, providing experts, seeds and machinery, and training agricultural personnel. Both sides agreed to prioritise agriculture as a key area of cooperation and to promote the implementation of bilateral and trilateral cooperation projects, contributing to ensuring sustainable food security for Togo. They also agreed to advance negotiations and signing of agreements to complete the legal framework for bilateral collaboration, such as the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, and the Visa Exemption Agreement for holders of diplomatic and official passports. After the talks, the two foreign ministries signed a memorandum of understanding on their political consultation, and agreed to monitor, review, and promote cooperation activities to bring bilateral relations into a new phase of 50 years with more achievements./.