Activities of Minister Nguyen Hong Dien within the framework of the program to welcome the Ethiopian Prime Minister and his wife on an official visit to Vietnam

Attend the official welcoming ceremony

On the afternoon of April 15, at the Presidential Palace, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien accompanied Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to preside over the welcoming ceremony for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and his wife. This is the first visit to Vietnam by a senior Ethiopian leader since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1976, and also the first high-level delegation exchange between the two countries in 7 years. The visit takes place at an important time when Vietnam is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of national reunification and the two countries are looking forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Attending the Talks between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali

After the official welcoming ceremony, in the afternoon of the same day, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien attended talks between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.

In an atmosphere of sincerity, friendship and trust, the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and discussed and agreed on specific directions and measures to continue strengthening and deepening cooperation in various fields between the two countries in the coming time.

Official talks between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that in its overall foreign policy, Vietnam always attaches importance to friendly relations with friendly countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, and highly appreciates the important achievements that the Government and people of Ethiopia have made in socio-economic development. He expressed his belief that Ethiopia will continue to successfully implement the "Self-reliant Economic Reform" Program, making Ethiopia a bright spot in economic growth in Africa, with an increasingly important position and role in the region and the world.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister was delighted to visit Vietnam for the first time on the occasion of Vietnam preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification; expressing his impression of the resilience and bravery of the Vietnamese people as well as the socio-economic development achievements and the increasing role of Vietnam in the region and the world. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali affirmed that Ethiopia considers Vietnam a foreign policy priority in Asia and wishes to develop bilateral cooperation with Vietnam in areas where both sides have strengths and potential.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali affirmed the importance of maintaining contacts at all levels, especially at high levels, through all channels of the Party, State, and National Assembly as well as between ministries, departments, sectors, localities, and businesses of the two countries to strengthen political trust; and agreed to consider the early opening of diplomatic representative agencies in each country.

Acknowledging the positive developments in economic cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises showing initial interest in investing in Ethiopia, the two Prime Ministers said that current cooperation is not commensurate with the scale and potential of the two economies with a total market size of over 230 million people and the highest growth rates in the two regions.

The two sides agreed to discuss and negotiate basic agreements and arrangements to create a favorable legal corridor for economic cooperation, especially the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, the Free Trade Agreement, etc. The two Prime Ministers also agreed to discuss and introduce investment cooperation opportunities in potential areas such as telecommunications, digital transformation, cyber security, mining, industrial and consumer goods production, processing industry development, agricultural product export, civil construction, infrastructure development, education - training, healthcare, tourism, etc.

On this occasion, the Ethiopian Prime Minister also said that Ethiopian Airlines, known as the largest airline in Africa, plans to open a direct flight between Addis Ababa and Hanoi, the first direct flight between Vietnam and an African country. The opening of the direct flight will create many incentives and opportunities for businesses on both sides to expand trade and investment cooperation.

Signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Cooperation

Within the framework of the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between the two countries, on the afternoon of April 15, in the presence of the Prime Ministers of the two countries, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Gedion Timothewos Hessebon signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Cooperation. This is an important document, defining the objectives, scope, fields, cooperation activities, and methods of coordination in implementing cooperation between the two Parties in the field of trade.

MOU Signing Ceremony on Trade Cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration of Ethiopia

Attending with General Secretary To Lam to receive Ethiopian Prime Minister

On the same afternoon, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien accompanied General Secretary To Lam to receive Ethiopian Prime Minister and Chairman of the Prosperity Party (PP) Abiy Ahmed Ali at the headquarters of the Party Central Office.

General Secretary To Lam welcomed and highly appreciated the official visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and his wife, the first visit to Vietnam by a senior Ethiopian leader since the two countries established diplomatic relations (February 23, 1976). The General Secretary said that the visit by the Chairman of the Ethiopian Prosperity Party will bring the relationship between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Prosperity Party as well as the friendship and cooperation between the two countries to a new stage, developing more deeply and effectively.

General Secretary To Lam receives Ethiopian Prime Minister and Chairman of the Prosperity Party Abiy Ahmed Ali

General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated the outstanding achievements that the country and people of Ethiopia have achieved under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the Prosperity Party in maintaining political stability and socio-economic development, making Ethiopia, the oldest independent country on the continent, a bright spot in economic growth for many consecutive years, one of the large economies with an important role in Africa. The General Secretary highly appreciated Ethiopia's efforts in green growth and combating climate change and hoped that Ethiopia would continue to develop more strongly in this field.

General Secretary To Lam expressed his belief that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the Prosperity Party will continue to lead the Government and people of Ethiopia to build a peaceful, stable and developed Ethiopia; increasingly enhance the prestige and position of the country, and contribute more to peace, stability and development in the region and the world; and affirmed the importance of establishing official relations between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) of Ethiopia.

Regarding bilateral relations, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the friendship and cooperation with African friends, including Ethiopia. The General Secretary suggested that the two sides study and identify a number of priority areas of cooperation in the coming period based on the potential and needs of both sides, especially in the fields of agriculture, trade, investment, science and technology, and connecting people and businesses. The General Secretary welcomed the plan of Ethiopian Airlines to launch a new route from Addis Ababa to Hanoi in July 2025, which will be the first route directly connecting Vietnam with Africa.

Visiting Vietnam for the first time, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali thanked the leaders of the Party, State and people of Vietnam for their warm and friendly welcome; expressed his admiration for the steadfast struggle for independence and freedom of the Vietnamese people, the remarkable development achievements of Vietnam under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and wished that Vietnam would share its experience in rapid and sustainable socio-economic development and environmental protection.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister believes that Vietnam will successfully organize the P4G Summit, affirming its important position and role in the international arena and demonstrating its capacity and prestige in taking on global responsibilities.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali emphasized that Ethiopia wishes to develop cooperation in many fields with Vietnam, especially in the fields of investment, science and technology, agriculture, education and training, and people-to-people exchange.

The two leaders agreed to continue to increase delegation exchanges at all levels, the two ruling parties to increase exchanges, contacts, training, and experience sharing between the two parties, and to increase exchanges to promote friendship and mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.

General Secretary To Lam welcomed the signing of a number of documents by both sides during the visit; he suggested that relevant agencies of the two countries actively negotiate to soon sign more documents to complete the legal framework, creating favorable conditions for promoting bilateral cooperation. The General Secretary also suggested that both sides soon open representative offices in each country to support promoting cooperation in the coming time.

Located in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is a potential market with a large economy and population of about 130 million people, the second most populous country in Africa. In recent years, Ethiopia's economy has continuously grown at a high and relatively stable rate, considered a bright spot in economic development in Africa. Ethiopia is the country with the highest economic growth rate on the continent, reaching an average of 9% in the 2011-2019 period and more than 6% in the 2020-2024 period. In 2024, Ethiopia's economic growth will reach 8.2%.

Ethiopia is currently the largest economy in East Africa and the fifth largest in Africa. In the period 2021-2023, Ethiopia's total import-export turnover fluctuated between 18 and 21 billion USD. Ethiopia has rich mineral resources (gold, platinum, lithium, tantalum, potash, base metals), has local raw materials (agricultural products, leather, cotton, etc.) and abundant human resources. Ethiopia is one of the largest coffee producers in Africa and the fifth largest producer of Arabica coffee in the world.

Trade between Vietnam and Ethiopia is still modest, compared to the potential of the two markets with a total population of up to 230 million people. In the period from 2019 to 2024, trade turnover between the two countries tends to increase, from 10.1 million USD in 2019 to 13.2 million USD in 2024 (Vietnam exports 7.1 million USD, imports 6.1 million USD). The structure of exchanged goods is complementary to each other. Vietnam's exports to Ethiopia mainly include plastic products, electrical machinery and equipment, mechanical equipment, chemicals, etc., and imports from Ethiopia mainly include coffee, fabric, cotton, textile and footwear materials, chemical products, oilseeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, etc.

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Source: Foreign Market Development Department

Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/hoat-dong/hoat-dong-cua-lanh-dao-bo/cac-hoat-dong-cua-bo-truong-nguyen-hong-dien-trong-khuon-kho-chuong-trinh-don-tiep-doan-thu-tuong-ethiopia-va-phu-nhan-t.html