Vietnam and Mozambique have agreed to work on concrete measures to boost all-round ties in the time ahead during talks between visiting Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.

The talks were held following a welcome ceremony for President Sang with the highest rituals for a Head of State in the capital city of Maputo on March 11.

President Sang expressed his delight at visiting the country after seven years in office, and spoke highly of Mozambique’s socio-economic achievements and reform over the past years.

The Mozambican leader hailed President Sang’s visit – the first made by a Vietnamese State leader, as a significant milestone in bilateral ties.

He said he considers Vietnam a symbol of heroism in the national liberation and admires the country for its successes reaped during the national construction and development.

Regarding political relations, both sides were committed to facilitating all-level visits and supporting each other at international forums and organisations.

On regional and global issues of shared concern, the two countries pledged continued efforts to maintain global peace and stability, agreeing that territorial border issues must be settled by peaceful means in line with international law.

The Vietnamese President thanked Mozambique for backing his country’s bid for a seat at the UN Economic and Social Council for 2016-2018. He also suggested the African country to support Vietnam in becoming a member of the International Law Commission for the 2017-2021 tenure and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021.

They shared view that the Inter-governmental Committee and political consultation mechanism between the two Foreign Ministries should be made regular with a variety of specific goals.

In terms of trade, host and guest said it remains modest and unmatched with the two countries’ potential and political ties.

They vowed to direct ministries and departments to discuss specific measures to lift two-way trade to at least 500 million USD by 2020 and beyond.

To that end, Vietnam asked Mozambique to create an economic cooperation framework conducive to their business communities, with the construction of a bonded warehouse as an immediate plan.

The two leaders expressed delight at the Movitel joint venture between Vietnam’s military-run telecommunication group Viettel and Mozambique’s SPI Company, saying that its success manifests Vietnam’s effective investment in Mozambique.

Mozambique highly valued the contributions Motivel has made to the country’s socio-economic development, and agreed to expand the cooperation model to other fields such as petroleum, trade, agricultural processing and construction.

The two sides consented to boosting connections in agriculture and aquatic products. Mozambique appreciated the success of the rice growing project among Vietnam, Mozambique and Japan, which introduced high-yield varieties in the country.

The African country hoped Vietnam will send experts to work at its aquatic research institute and help develop fish breeding models at sea.

The two leaders also shared the view that relevant ministries and sectors will accelerate the delayed joint project on planting rubber trees.

In the field of transport, the Mozambican President said his country wishes to foster ties with Vietnam in navigation and marine transport, adding that it is drafting a law calling for private investment in the sector. He also suggested Vietnam continue to help his country in training human resources for the maritime sector.

The Vietnamese side said it is willing to assist Mozambique in training human resources for information technology, military medicine and telecommunication as well as share its experience in preventing and fighting natural disasters, crime, terrorism, violence and wildfire.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate negotiations for the signing of agreements on protection of confidential information, extradition, and the transfer of sentenced prisoners.

They also reached consensus on the early organisation of the fourth Inter-Governmental Committee to realise agreements reached during their talks.

After the talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of the Annex to the Protocol on cooperation in education and training between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and training and Mozambique’s Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.

During his visit, President Sang is scheduled to meet other leaders of the host country and attend a Vietnam-Mozambique business forum.

President meets Mozambican leaders, concludes visit

President Truong Tan Sang met Speaker of the Parliament of Mozambique Veronica Macamo and Secretary General of the ruling Liberation Front (Frelimo) Party Eliseu Machava in Maputo on March 12 (local time).

Macamo hailed the visit as an important milestone in bilateral ties and affirmed her determination to strengthen experience-sharing between the two legislatures, work closely at inter-parliamentary organisations and intensify bilateral ties in economics, trade, telecommunications and agriculture.

She proposed signing a cooperation agreement between the two legislatures.

The President expressed his delight at visiting the country after seven years in office and spoke highly of the Mozambican Parliament’s role in national development.

In a separate meeting with Frelimo Party leader Machava, the Vietnamese leader briefed his host about the outcomes of the 12 th National Party Congress. He called on the two countries to maintain close cooperation and said he believed that under the sound leadership of the Frelimo Party, Mozambique will reap more successes throughout the nation’s development, fostering the traditional friendship between the two Parties and peoples.

Machava, for his part, said Frelimo appreciates and always does its best to solidify its long-standing ties with Vietnam.

He thanked Vietnam for sharing experiences with Frelimo in Party-building and personnel training. A number of Party members who took training courses in Vietnam ascended to high ranks in the Party.

The same day, President Sang and Mozambican President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi attended the Mozambique-Vietnam business forum co-hosted by the Confederation of Business Associations and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with nearly 200 firms taking part.

While discussing the goal to raise two-way trade to 500 million USD by 2020, a majority of participants said they highly valued Vietnam’s potential in various fields, particularly in farm produce processing, garments and wooden furniture.

With Mozambique’s strengths in crude materials, they described it as fertile ground for Vietnamese investors.

Nyusi said in its Look East policy, the Mozambican Government paid attention to the areas of agriculture, energy, tourism, construction and transport, and has offered incentives to pitch for foreign investment.

The Vietnamese guest asked the two business communities to continue discussing a plan to open a bonded warehouse and launch an inter-bank payment mechanism.

He said he believed that with Vietnamese and Mozambican leaders’ support, more and more Vietnamese firms will come to Mozambique, following the success of Movitel – a joint-venture between Vietnamese telecom group Viettel telecom and Mozambique’s SPI company.

Also on March 12, President Sang visited Movitel and met Vietnamese nationals living in the country.

On March 13, the State leader and his entourage left Maputo, concluding their Mozambican visit and embarking on a trip to Iran.

According to a joint communiqué issued following his visit, the two countries’ leaders agreed to facilitate high-level visits and deepen bilateral ties in farming, aquaculture, maritime transport, aviation, education-training, health care, science-technology, national defence-security and disaster mitigation.

Both sides expressed their wishes to strengthen consultation mechanisms and coordinate in multilateral issues to protect interests of developing countries and promote fairer development in a global political and economic order.