President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau begins official visit to Vietnam

On the evening of September 5, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his wife arrived in Hanoi , beginning an official visit to Vietnam.

Welcoming ceremony for President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his wife at Noi Bai airport. (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA)

On the evening of September 5, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his wife arrived in Hanoi, beginning an official visit to Vietnam from September 5-8 at the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam , President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam and his wife.

Welcoming the delegation at Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) were Deputy Head of the Office of the President Phan Thi Kim Oanh; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang; Vietnamese Ambassador to Morocco and Guinea-Bissau Le Kim Quy and a number of officials from the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Accompanying President Umaro Sissoco Embaló were the President's wife Dinisia dos Reis Embalo; Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration Soares Sambu; Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Communities Carlos Perreira; Minister of Natural Resources Malam Sambu; Secretary of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fatuma Jau; Minister, Chief of the President's Cabinet Gilda de Pina; Chief of the President's Office Califa Soares Cassama; Presidential Adviser for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Alfredo Cabral; Presidential Adviser Yassenia Ibrahim; Presidential Adviser Suzana Sissoco Embalo; Chief of State Protocol Luis Domingos Camara de Barros.

President Umaro Sissoco Embaló was born on September 23, 1972 in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. He speaks four languages fluently: Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, and Arabic.

President Umaro Embaló is a military officer with the rank of General. He holds a Master's degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Madrid, Spain; a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Social and Political Sciences of Lisbon, Portugal; studied defense science at the Spanish Defense Center; and attended courses on national security in Belgium, Israel, South Africa, Japan, and France. His academic expertise is in African and Middle Eastern affairs, as well as defense, international cooperation, and development issues.

Mr. Umaro Embaló was Minister of African Affairs and National Security Advisor to Heads of State of Guinea-Bissau; Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (November 2016-January 2018). From February 27, 2020 to present, he is President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.

During his term, President Embaló wants to make Guinea-Bissau a country of “order, discipline and development.”

According to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang, this is the first visit to Vietnam by the President of Guinea-Bissau since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1973.

Vietnam and Guinea-Bissau have a traditional friendly relationship; Vietnam is Guinea-Bissau's third largest export market in the world and Guinea-Bissau is one of Vietnam's five largest suppliers of raw cashew nuts in Africa for many years.

The two countries maintain cooperation in many fields, including signing bilateral agreements covering culture, economics, trade, industry and science and technology. The two countries regularly coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums.

The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson also said that the first high-level visit between Vietnam and Guinea-Bissau aims to affirm Vietnam's importance in developing traditional friendship with countries and friends in Africa, including Guinea-Bissau.

The visit also aims to create a foundation to promote cooperation between the two countries in many fields, including traditional areas of cooperation such as politics, economics, trade, agriculture, fisheries, processing industry, and at the same time expanding to new areas of cooperation such as building seaport infrastructure and mining.

During the visit, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló is expected to hold talks with General Secretary and President To Lam and meet with other senior Vietnamese leaders and attend a number of other important foreign affairs activities./.

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