In his opening speech, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi expressed his pleasure to welcome the Algerian delegation led by Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production Ali Aoun to Vietnam to co-chair the meeting.
Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi emphasized that this session is of great significance, contributing to promoting multifaceted cooperation and strengthening friendship between the two countries.
According to the Minister, although Vietnam and Algeria are geographically distant, the two countries are always connected by historical similarities and a common aspiration for peace, national independence, and building a prosperous and happy country. The governments and people of the two countries have always given each other active support in the past struggles for national liberation and independence, as well as in the current process of national construction and development.
The trusted political-diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and Algeria is promoted through maintaining exchanges of high-ranking delegations of the two countries, the Intergovernmental Committee cooperation mechanism and the Political Consultation mechanism between the two Foreign Ministries...
Algeria is an important partner of Vietnam in the African market and is the 4th largest export market of Vietnam in Africa.
According to Vietnam Customs, two-way trade turnover reached 195.6 million USD in 2018. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and many objective factors, two-way trade turnover in 2022 only reached 144.2 million USD, of which Vietnam exported 141 million USD and imported 3.2 million USD from Algeria.
Investment cooperation in the oil and gas sector is a bright spot in the economic relations between the two countries. The joint venture for oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Algeria between the Vietnam Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) and its partners Sonatrach Algeria and PTTEP Thailand is effectively implementing and continuing to implement phase 2 of the project.
Cooperation in the fields of agriculture, seafood, information and communication, tourism, etc. is strengthened and developed.
In addition to cooperation between ministries and sectors, the signing of a cooperation and twinning agreement between Dien Bien province of Vietnam and Batna province of Algeria in August 2023 has contributed to promoting diverse and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.
On behalf of the delegation, Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production Ali Aoun thanked Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi for the warm welcome. At the same time, he affirmed that Algeria wishes to develop relations with Vietnam on the basis of trade cooperation.
"We have just issued the Investment Law. Vietnam can take advantage of Algeria's position as a gateway to Africa to expand trade. We are currently building a road across the Sahara desert," said Minister Ali Aoun.
At the meeting, the two Ministers agreed that the current bilateral cooperation results are still modest, not commensurate with the good friendship and potential of the two countries. Therefore, the two sides need to cooperate closely and have appropriate solutions to bring the cooperative relationship to a new level.
Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi added that the "Vietnam-Algeria Business Forum" tomorrow morning (October 17) will concretize cooperation opportunities between the two countries.
At the same time, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi suggested that at this Session, the expert delegations of the two countries focus on discussing and agreeing on a number of key contents that need to promote cooperation in feasible areas such as: Trade exchange (agricultural and aquatic products, consumer goods), oil and gas, agriculture, information and communication, tourism, and construction.
Specifically, the two sides discussed and proposed cooperation plans based on strengths and needs to increase two-way trade turnover, overcome Vietnam's trade surplus with Algeria; and measures to create favorable legal conditions and necessary conditions for businesses of both sides to promote investment and business cooperation.
Based on the results and positive progress of Vietnam's joint venture project on oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Algeria, the Government of Algeria is requested to continue creating favorable conditions for businesses of both sides to cooperate in exploitation and investment expansion as well as discuss the possibility of cooperation in the field of oil and gas services and processing.
Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi also suggested that the two sides exchange the possibility of professional cooperation in the fields of architecture and urban planning; create conditions for businesses of both sides to exchange the possibility of cooperation in implementing infrastructure development projects in each country.
At the same time, continue to effectively implement cooperation agreements in the fields of post, information technology and communications; agriculture, rural areas and fisheries...
Regarding the proposals for new cooperation agreements, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that Vietnam has received draft cooperation agreements in the fields of health, education, vocational training, tourism, sports, energy, investment, etc. proposed by Algeria. Relevant ministries and sectors of Vietnam are studying and will discuss specifically with Algerian partners within the framework of the meeting to clearly identify potential cooperation contents that both sides are interested in, moving towards signing cooperation agreements at an appropriate time.
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