At the invitation of General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo and his wife paid an official visit to Vietnam from September 5 to 8, 2024. This is the first visit to Vietnam by a Guinea-Bissau President since the two countries established diplomatic relations.
The visit affirms the consistent policy of the Vietnamese Party and State to always attach importance to the traditional friendship with friendly countries in Africa, including Guinea-Bissau.
Located in west Africa, on the Atlantic coast, Guinea-Bissau has abundant natural resources, the economy depends mainly on agriculture. Cashew nuts are the main export item and the main source of foreign currency to help improve the country's economy, in addition to beans, palm oil, agricultural products. The main imported products are gasoline, food, construction materials, machinery ...
In recent years, Guinea-Bissau's economy has shown signs of improvement, with GDP in 2023 reaching nearly two billion USD, and per capita income reaching about 1,000 USD. Economic growth in 2023 reached more than 4.2% and is estimated to reach 4.7% in 2024.
Guinea-Bissau pursues a non-aligned foreign policy, maintaining good relations with major countries and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). Recently, Guinea-Bissau has made many efforts to improve its position in the international arena, having successfully assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2023 and will assume the rotating chairmanship of the CPLP in 2025.
Guinea-Bissau is actively promoting relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, notably establishing a strategic partnership with China in July 2024. Guinea-Bissau is a member of the United Nations, the African Union (AU), ECOWAS, the Non-Aligned Movement, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), etc.
Vietnam and Guinea-Bissau have traditional friendship relations. |
Vietnam and Guinea-Bissau have a traditional friendship. The two countries established diplomatic relations on September 30, 1973 and regularly coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations. Recently, Guinea-Bissau supported Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term and the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term.
Trade is the main area of economic cooperation between Vietnam and Guinea-Bissau. Currently, Vietnam is the third largest export market of Guinea-Bissau, and this country has been one of the five largest suppliers of raw cashew nuts to Vietnam in Africa for many years. The total trade turnover in 2023 between the two countries reached nearly 170 million USD, of which Vietnam mainly imported raw cashew nuts. Vietnam's main export items to Guinea-Bissau include rice, equipment, chemical products, vegetables and fruits, etc.
The two countries signed an Agreement on Cultural, Economic, Scientific-Technical and Trade Cooperation (1994); a Memorandum of Understanding on Trade and Industrial Cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Enhancing the Value of Local Products of Guinea-Bissau (2014).
Cooperation between Vietnam and Guinea-Bissau, especially trade cooperation, has great potential. During his visit to Vietnam in 2018, the Minister of Commerce, Tourism and Handicrafts of Guinea-Bissau affirmed that Guinea-Bissau has a need to import large quantities of rice from Vietnam.
In March 2023, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Guinea-Bissau sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam expressing his desire to visit Vietnam to learn from its experience in enhancing the development of strategic value chains, in order to improve food security and economic growth.
The official visit to Vietnam by President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo and his wife is an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to discuss measures to promote relations in traditional areas of cooperation such as politics, economics, trade, agriculture, fisheries and processing industry; and at the same time expand cooperation in new areas such as infrastructure construction, seaports and mining.
Wishing the official visit to Vietnam of President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo and his wife a great success, creating momentum to promote and expand cooperation between the two countries, contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world.
Source: https://baolangson.vn/tao-xung-luc-mo-rong-hop-tac-giua-viet-nam-va-guinea-bissau-5020629.html
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