New development in relations between Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire

Buoc phat trien moi trong quan he giua Viet Nam va Cote d'Ivoire hinh anh 1 President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Adama Bictogo. (Photo: VNA)

According to a statement from the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee , at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Adama Bictogo, leading a high-ranking delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, will pay an official visit to Vietnam from June 13-16.

The visit took place in the context of the two countries maintaining good friendly and cooperative relations over the past 48 years, since the establishment of diplomatic relations on October 6, 1975.

This is also the first visit of the President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire to Vietnam and also the first visit of a senior leader of the State of Côte d'Ivoire to Vietnam after 48 years of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Good friendly cooperation relationship

Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire established diplomatic relations on October 6, 1975. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two sides have always attached importance to the good friendship and cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire and African countries, wishing to deepen the relationship between the two countries which is developing very well.

The two sides discussed measures to deepen and substantiate the relationship through increasing contacts and exchanges of delegations at high and all levels, and effectively implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.

During the delegation exchange, the Vietnamese side had visits and working sessions with Politburo member, Head of the Central Propaganda Department Vo Van Thuong (June 2019); Politburo member, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue (November 2019) and a number of leaders of ministries and localities from 2008-2014.

Buoc phat trien moi trong quan he giua Viet Nam va Cote d'Ivoire hinh anh 2 Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire Amadou Gon Coulibaly (right) and President Vo Van Thuong (then Head of the Central Propaganda Department) at a meeting on the afternoon of June 18, 2019 in the capital Abidjan. (Photo: Tan Dat/VNA)

On the Côte d'Ivoire side, there were visits and working sessions by: Working delegation of the Côte d'Ivoire Cotton and Cashew Association (March 2014, February 2016); Secretary of State in charge of investment promotion (September 2018); Minister, Chief of the President's Office, Minister of Digital Economy, Minister of Agriculture (May 2019); Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcel Amon Tanoh (June 2019); President of the General Confederation of Employers of Côte d'Ivoire (2022).

Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire regularly coordinate and support each other in multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Specifically, Côte d'Ivoire supports Vietnam's candidacy for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (2020-2021), and Vietnam also supports Côte d'Ivoire's candidacy for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (2018-2019).

Côte d'Ivoire supports Vietnam's candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council (2014-2016, 2023-2025). The Communist Party of Vietnam has established relations with the ruling RHDP Party and both opposition parties, the FPI and PDCI-RDA.

The two sides also signed many cooperation documents such as: Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs (May 2014); Visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders (April 18, 2017).

The good political friendship between Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire is a fundamental premise for the two countries to further develop trade and investment relations. Since 2015, trade turnover between Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire has grown rapidly, mainly thanks to Vietnam's imports of raw cashew nuts and cotton.

Côte d'Ivoire is Vietnam's second largest trading partner in Africa and Vietnam's fourth largest export market on the continent, with a trade turnover of 1.04 billion USD in 2022.

The Vietnamese community in Côte d'Ivoire has about 300 people, of which 50% are permanent residents, mainly doing business, restaurants and nearly 1,000 small traders trading cashew nuts between the two countries.

Further promote cooperation between the Legislatures of the two countries

With the desire to deepen the relationship of trust between the two countries in all fields; at the same time, further promote cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries, in recent times, the two legislative bodies of the two countries have had meetings, exchanges and experience sharing.

Both sides hope that the legislative bodies of the two countries will promote friendly exchanges, experience sharing, information sharing, and coordinate in monitoring the implementation of cooperation agreements signed by the two governments, promote the early signing of agreements that the two countries are discussing, create favorable conditions in terms of legal framework to promote cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment; continue to closely coordinate at multilateral forums that the two countries' National Assemblies participate in.

Buoc phat trien moi trong quan he giua Viet Nam va Cote d'Ivoire hinh anh 3 Vice President of Côte d'Ivoire received National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (then Deputy Prime Minister) on November 1, 2019. (Photo: Phi Hung/VNA)

In that spirit, the upcoming first visit of the President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire to Vietnam is an opportunity to make bilateral parliamentary cooperation between the two countries more effective and substantive; create momentum to expand cooperation between the two countries in many other fields, especially improving the effectiveness of economic cooperation between the two countries and strengthening cooperation at multilateral forums.

During his visit to Vietnam, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Adama Bictogo is expected to pay courtesy calls, hold talks and meet with Vietnamese leaders.

The two sides will evaluate measures to promote bilateral trade turnover commensurate with the great potential of each country in a more balanced and diversified manner; create maximum convenience for each country's strong products to penetrate each other's markets; promote information activities, trade and investment promotion, strengthen connections between associations and enterprises; increase the exchange of business delegations, encourage enterprises to meet, have direct contact, and attend fairs and exhibitions held in each country.

The two sides will also discuss measures to effectively and practically implement signed documents, promote the signing of important documents, and promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges, especially between the two countries' young generations, to enhance understanding and build a supportive and supportive force.

The two sides continue to closely coordinate and actively support each other at multilateral forums, promoting Vietnam-Africa cooperation within the framework of the African Union and the Economic Community of African States.

The leaders of the two countries will discuss issues related to facilitating the Vietnamese community in Côte d'Ivoire; have specific policies and measures to protect legitimate rights and interests, ensure a secure and safe environment for Vietnamese people to live and work stably, develop the economy and actively contribute to promoting the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Regarding parliamentary cooperation, the two sides will discuss measures to continue strengthening cooperation in parliamentary diplomacy; increase exchanges of high-ranking delegations and specialized committees of the National Assembly; increase exchanges of parliamentarians; exchange experiences in organizing parliamentary activities to continue innovating and improving the effectiveness of the activities of the National Assembly and its supporting agencies; cooperate in supervising the effective implementation of international cooperation agreements signed between the two governments; support and enhance connectivity and cooperation between businesses of the two countries.

The upcoming visit to Vietnam by President of the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire Adama Bictogo will mark a new development step in the friendship that has lasted nearly half a century./.

V.D (Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

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