President Tran Dai Quang’s state visits to Ethiopia and Egypt from August 23-28 have created new momentum for bilateral relations between Vietnam and the two countries, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Hong Nam has said. 

President Tran Dai Quang (left) and his Ethiopian counterpart Mulatu Teshome. 

He made the statement to the press following the leader’s visits, highlighting the trips’ success as creating a historical milestone for bilateral ties. 

Vietnam and Ethiopia agreed to step up the exchange of delegations, especially at a high level, in order to push the impetus for bilateral relations, while also intensifying their coordination at multilateral forums, particularly within the framework of the United Nations (UN). 

Ethiopia also committed to sharing its experience with Vietnam in UN peacekeeping operations, Nam said. 

Meanwhile, President Quang’s visit to Egypt from August 25-28 demonstrated Vietnam’s wish to promote its relationship with the country in a practical and effective manner.

President Tran Dai Quang (second, left) and his spouse were welcomed by Egyptian Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and his spouse.

The two sides agreed to further enhance their ties; increase all-level delegation exchanges via Party, Government, and National Assembly channels and people-to-people diplomacy; and support each other at multilateral forums such as the UN, South-South cooperation, and the Francophone community. 

Nam stressed that the main purpose of President Quang’s visits was to forge economic, trade, and investment cooperation with Ethiopia and Egypt. 

As such, the President held in-depth discussions with Ethiopian and Egyptian leaders on concrete measures to turn their potential into specific results, including creating favourable conditions for businesses to cooperate and penetrate the respective markets. 

Vietnam offered to help Ethiopia and Egypt access ASEAN markets while, on the other hand, Vietnamese enterprises would further their reach to African and Arab markets through the two countries, Nam added. 

The leaders also talked about measures to reinforce collaboration in other fields like agriculture, telecommunications and information-technology, culture, tourism, fishery, transportation, and education-training. 

During the visits, Vietnam signed several cooperation documents with the two countries, covering trade, agriculture, finance, oil, training, and cooperation between localities. 

At the end of the visits, Vietnam and the two countries issued joint statements chalking up major orientations to boost bilateral ties in the future, the Deputy Minister said. 

On this occasion, President Quang visited the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in the Ethiopian capital city of Adis Abiba and had a meeting with AU Acting President Amira Elfadil Mohammed Elfadil to discuss cooperation orientations between Vietnam and the union, as well as its members in various spheres – economy, trade, and investment in particular. 

The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the determination of AU member countries to step up reforms could create many opportunities for Vietnamese businesses if they know how to utilise them, Nam said. 

He noted that President Quang and the AU Acting President concurred to soon establish a suitable dialogue mechanism to promote comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the union, as well as closely coordinate with each other at multilateral forums, for the sake of developing nations. 

President’s visits to Ethiopia, Egypt record upbeat outcomes

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse arrived in Hanoi on August 29 morning, rounding off their successful state visits to Ethiopia and Egypt.

The two trips, made at the invitation of Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, have recorded positive outcomes regarding the exchange of content between all sides, successful documents signed, as well as President Quang’s sideline activities.

In Ethiopia from August 23-25, President Quang held talks with Ethiopian President Teshome and also had separate meetings with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Speaker of the House of Federation Keria Ibrahim. 

His later visit to Egypt from August 25-29 took place at a time when the two countries are celebrating 55 years of diplomatic relations. President Quang held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdel Aal and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

At the end of each visit, a joint statement was issued, setting out major orientations and laying the basis for bilateral cooperation in the near future.

Boosting economic, trade, and investment collaboration was a key aspect of the Vietnamese President’s visits to Ethiopia and Egypt, which are substantial markets of around 100 million people each. Egypt is now one of the three leading economies in Africa, while the Ethiopian economy has grown at an annual average rate of 10 percent in the last decade.

At their meetings, President Quang and leaders of the two countries extensively discussed specific solutions to encourage and create favorable conditions for their business communities to engage in networking and market expansion. Vietnam can assist Ethiopia and Egypt in accessing the ASEAN market, while the latters can help Vietnam enter the considerable markets of the Middle East and Africa.    

As part of its foreign policy, Vietnam has always attached importance to traditional ties with Africa, having established diplomatic relations with 53 out of the 55 countries to date. In 2017, Vietnam-Africa trade reached approximately 6.7 billion USD.

Within the framework of his visit to Ethiopia, the Vietnamese President visited the headquarters of the African Union (AU) and met with Acting President of the AU Commission Amira Elfadil Mohammed Elfadil.

At the meeting, President Quang stated that developing countries, like Vietnam and several African nations, should work together and support each other to increase their voices and roles at multilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the Non-Aligned Movement, and the South-South cooperation framework.

He suggested that Vietnam and the AU set up an annual dialogue to implement synchronous and large scale collaborative projects with the region and other countries, thus enhancing their coordination at international forums to defend the interests of developing nations.

The two leaders agreed to study a cooperation model, as well as boost exchanges of information and experience in the fields of common interest, such as the UN peacekeeping mission, agriculture, education, infrastructure, IT, and telecommunication.

VNA