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| Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan paid an official visit to South Africa from September 14-17, 2023. |
At the invitation of Vice President of the Republic of South Africa Paul Mashatile, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan paid an official visit to South Africa from September 14-17.
Positive developments
On September 15, in the capital Pretoria, after a solemn welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and South African Vice President Paul Mashatile met and co-chaired official talks in a sincere, friendly and open atmosphere.
Also attending the talks were leaders of the President's Office, Deputy Ministers of the Ministries of Cooperation and International Relations, Home Affairs, Universities-Science and Innovation, Industry and Trade, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development of South Africa; on the Vietnamese side were leaders of the President's Office, the Central External Relations Commission and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment, Education and Training and the Hanoi People's Committee, along with Ambassadors of the two countries.
Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan thanked the Vice President of South Africa for the warm and friendly reception given to the delegation. Appreciating South Africa's leading role in Africa as well as its important contributions to international forums, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan congratulated South Africa on successfully hosting the BRICS Summit in August 2023.
Vice President Paul Mashatile welcomed the visit of Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, assessing this as an important event, taking place on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1993 - 2023). The South African Vice President expressed his impression of Vietnam's dynamic development achievements as well as its increasing role and position in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, emphasizing that solidarity and mutual support in the struggle for national independence and freedom are the premise for multifaceted cooperation between the two countries in national construction and development today.
The two leaders highly appreciated the positive developments in the cooperative relationship between the two countries over the past three decades, with Vietnam and South Africa becoming important partners in Africa and Southeast Asia.
The two sides have effectively implemented bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Intergovernmental Partnership Forum. South Africa is Vietnam's largest trade partner in Africa with two-way trade reaching nearly 1.3 billion USD in 2022.
Cooperation in defense-security, agriculture, culture, education-training and people-to-people exchange also saw positive progress.
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| Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan holds talks with Vice President of the Republic of South Africa Paul Mashatile. (Source: VNA) |
Proposal to soon negotiate a Free Trade Agreement
At the talks, the two sides reviewed the results of cooperation over the past time; discussed and agreed on major orientations and measures, and were determined to further promote the Vietnam - South Africa "Partnership for Cooperation and Development" in the coming time.
In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two sides agreed to promote delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially at high levels, through the Party, State, Government and National Assembly channels; continue to promote the role of bilateral cooperation mechanisms; and consolidate the legal framework through the early completion and signing of agreements in the fields of higher education and minerals.
South Africa acknowledged Vietnam's proposal to soon negotiate a Free Trade Agreement and other specialized cooperation documents such as investment protection, avoidance of double taxation, etc.
In terms of economy, with the two countries' economies being complementary, the two leaders affirmed their determination to promote cooperation commensurate with the potential and scale of the two economies. Accordingly, the two sides affirmed that they will continue to closely coordinate to expand the scale and structure of trade exchanges, encourage the exchange of business delegations, organize investment and trade promotion activities, facilitate access to each other's markets, including increasing imports of South African coal.
The two leaders welcomed the substantive results of the Vice President's meeting with South African business representatives and the successful organization of the Vietnam-South Africa Economic Cooperation Forum during the Vice President's visit.
Regarding investment, the two sides said that the cooperation results are still modest; they affirmed their readiness to facilitate businesses of the two countries to seek investment cooperation opportunities in each side's strengths such as healthcare, infrastructure, agricultural processing, minerals, etc.
Regarding agriculture, the two sides identified this as a field with great potential and need to continue to promote cooperation on the basis of implementing or signing new cooperation documents to contribute to meeting the needs of each country as well as ensuring food security in the world; research to expand cooperation to the field of agricultural scientific research.
Regarding education and training, the two sides encouraged expanding connections between universities of the two countries, exchanging scholarships, students, and lecturers. The two sides also discussed cooperation in the fields of defense-security, culture, tourism, sports, etc.
Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan thanked and proposed that South Africa facilitate residence and work permits for the Vietnamese community to integrate well, live, study and work stably in South Africa, thereby contributing to enhancing mutual understanding and promoting the role of a bridge to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. The two sides also agreed to promote research on mechanisms to facilitate travel of citizens of the two countries.
Regarding cooperation within multilateral frameworks, the two sides agreed to continue to coordinate and support each other, especially at the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement; South Africa supports Vietnam's cooperation with the African Union and the Southern African Development Community; Vietnam is ready to act as a bridge to help South Africa strengthen relations with ASEAN; and share views on resolving regional and global disputes by peaceful means, on the basis of international law and the United Nations Charter.
Regarding the proposal to support South Africa's candidacy for the position of Judge of the International Court of Justice, Vietnam has taken note and will consider it comprehensively.
On this occasion, the Vice President respectfully invited the Vice President of South Africa to visit Vietnam soon. The Vice President of South Africa sincerely thanked and happily accepted the invitation.
*After the talks, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and the Vice President of South Africa spoke to the press of the two countries, announcing the good results of the talks.
On the same day, South African Vice President Paul Mashatile officially hosted Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation.
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