Thirty years ago, Vietnam and South Africa officially established diplomatic relations. Since then, the traditional friendship between the two countries has continuously developed.
Vietnamese Pho Day is held for the first time in South Africa. Photo: Hong Minh - VNA
However, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Hoang Sy Cuong, the two countries still have much room to enhance effective and substantive cooperation, not only helping to deepen bilateral relations, but also contributing to cooperation and development of relations between the two regions of Southeast Asia and Southern Africa.
Important milestones
Vietnam and South Africa officially established diplomatic relations on December 22, 1993. However, the friendly relationship between the two countries existed long before that, with the historic milestone being the meeting between representatives of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and representatives of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1955 during the Bandung Conference in Indonesia - the conference that marked the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement.
After establishing diplomatic relations, based on the traditional foundation of good relations, stemming from the needs, concerns and efforts of both sides, the relationship between the two countries has developed well on all channels of party, state and people-to-people exchanges; multifaceted cooperation has been strengthened, with good results.
Specifically, after the Vietnam War ended in 1978, ANC President Oliver Tambo led a Party delegation to visit Vietnam to learn about Vietnam's experience in the resistance war against the US to save the country.
Less than a year after the two countries established diplomatic relations, in May 1994, Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh visited South Africa to attend the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela. Then, in March 1995, Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam made his first official visit to South Africa.
In November 2004, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai paid an official visit to South Africa. During this visit, Vietnam and South Africa signed a Joint Declaration on Cooperation and Development; an Agreement on the Establishment of a Partnership Forum on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation; an Agreement on Visa Exemption for Diplomatic and Official Passports; and an announcement on the establishment of the Vietnam-South Africa Joint Trade Commission.
Three years later, in May 2007, South African President Thabo Mbeki made his first official visit to Vietnam. During the visit, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement between the two foreign ministries and the minutes of the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Partnership Forum on economics, science, technology and culture.
Four years after signing the bilateral trade agreement, in November 2004, the two sides signed the Joint Declaration on Partnership for Cooperation and Development, the Agreement on Establishing the Intergovernmental Partnership Forum on Economic, Trade, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, the Agreement on Establishing the Joint Trade Committee and the Cooperation Agreement between the two Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Then, in May 2007, during the visit to Vietnam of the President of South Africa, the two sides issued a Joint Statement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of South Africa, signed an Agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders, a Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, and the Minutes of the first meeting of the Vietnam - South Africa Intergovernmental Committee.
After that, the two sides maintained good momentum of political-diplomatic cooperation through delegation exchanges at all levels, especially at high levels, through the channels of the Party, State, National Assembly, ministries, branches, and localities, encouraging and facilitating people-to-people exchanges to enhance solidarity and mutual understanding. Regular delegation exchanges have helped maintain and strengthen trust, exchange, and share experiences, contributing to orienting specific cooperation between ministries, branches, organizations, localities, and businesses of the two sides.
On the other hand, Vietnam and South Africa also coordinate very well in consulting on positions and supporting each other in many important multilateral international forums (United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, NAM-NAM Cooperation, etc.). Recently, Vietnam has actively promoted and contributed to South Africa's official recognition as a Sectoral/Industry Dialogue Partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 2023, opening up opportunities for South Africa to strengthen relations and penetrate deeper into the dynamically developing Southeast Asian market. For its part, South Africa has also supported Vietnam to become an observer of the African Union in 2022. In 2023, South Africa, as the rotating Chair of the BRICS group, invited Vietnam to attend the Expanded BRICS Summit (August 24, 2023), demonstrating good relations and valuing Vietnam's position and role.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Hoang Sy Cuong, the positive results in the relationship between the two countries over the past three decades have laid the foundation for developing cooperative relations in the coming time. The Ambassador believes that the two countries still have much room to enhance effective and substantive cooperation, not only helping to deepen bilateral relations, but also contributing to cooperation and development of relations between the two regions of Southeast Asia and Southern Africa.
Take the relationship deeper
South Africa is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner and largest export market in Africa. Over the past 15 years, two-way trade turnover has increased more than sixfold, from 192 million USD in 2007 to nearly 1.3 billion USD in 2022. Notably, trade between the two countries has been maintained throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This shows that the structure of goods exchange between the two economies is quite stable and complementary.
Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Hoang Sy Cuong. Photo: Hoang Minh-VNA
Vietnam mainly exports to South Africa phones and components, textiles, footwear, agricultural products (coffee, rice, cashews, pepper). In the opposite direction, South Africa mainly exports to Vietnam fruits (grapes, apples, pears), wood, minerals, and chemicals.
However, Ambassador Hoang Sy Cuong said that the effectiveness of economic relations between the two countries is not yet commensurate with political relations.
To gradually improve the practical effectiveness of the relationship, especially in the economic field, Ambassador Hoang Sy Cuong proposed that both sides should persevere and be determined to promote cooperation in all aspects, especially in areas where both sides have strengths and needs, and have the potential to complement each other, focusing on increasing the depth of mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of mining, agriculture, energy, education and training, trade, logistics, finance and banking, etc. and in new areas such as digital transformation and green economy. Both sides need to continue to promote measures to facilitate goods from each side to access each other's markets, while creating more opportunities for businesses from both sides to access and enhance investment cooperation.
Regarding agriculture, the two sides identified this as a potential field that needs to continue to promote cooperation on the basis of implementing or signing new cooperation documents, thereby contributing to meeting the needs of each country as well as contributing to ensuring food security in the world. In addition, the two sides need to study and expand cooperation in agricultural science.
On the other hand, the two sides need to continue to improve the effectiveness of the Vietnam-South Africa Intergovernmental Partnership Forum, the Vietnam-South Africa Joint Trade Committee and other specialized cooperation mechanisms. In particular, it is necessary to pay attention to reviewing, updating, negotiating and signing bilateral cooperation documents in various fields, ensuring feasibility and practicality.
Furthermore, according to Ambassador Hoang Sy Cuong, the two sides need to further promote local cooperation, tourism development, cultural exchange, and people-to-people exchange between the two countries.
Regarding politics, Ambassador Hoang Sy Cuong said that in the coming time, the two countries need to continue to increase delegation exchanges, especially at the high level, on all channels and in more diverse forms; at the same time, continue to promote good consultation, coordination and cooperation in multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and South-South cooperation, to continuously consolidate and build political trust./.
Thu Van
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