A particularly important milestone in Vietnam-South Africa relations

Tổng thống Cộng hòa Nam Phi Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the occasion of attending the expanded BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6, 2025. (Source: VNA)

Dear Ambassador, at the invitation of President Luong Cuong, President of the Republic of South Africa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa will pay a State visit to Vietnam from October 23-24. Could you please tell us the significance and focus of this visit for bilateral relations?

Vietnam and South Africa established official diplomatic relations on December 22, 1993, but the two sides have long had a traditional relationship, with a historic milestone being the meeting between representatives of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and representatives of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1955 during the Bandung Conference, Indonesia. Vietnam's victory in the struggle for national liberation, against colonialism and imperialism, and for national unification is considered a source of inspiration, strong spiritual encouragement and reference experience for the struggle of the South African people to overthrow apartheid and build democracy in 1994.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have made continuous efforts to develop bilateral relations in a substantial manner, achieving good results in many specific areas. Currently, the two countries are each other's leading cooperation partners in the African and Southeast Asian regions; South Africa is the only African country to date with which Vietnam has a Partnership for Cooperation and Development. In the context of the current fast-changing and complex international situation with many uncertainties, Vietnam and South Africa still share a close view on security, cooperation and development issues, and are consistent and determined to further tighten bilateral relations towards new heights.

High-level visits between the two countries have been maintained quite regularly, both through Party, State and people-to-people channels. President Cyril Ramaphosa personally visited Vietnam exactly 9 years ago at the invitation of Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh. This State visit to Vietnam by Mr. Ramaphosa is the first visit by a South African President in 18 years (in 2007, President Thabo Mbeki visited us), and is considered a particularly important milestone in the relationship between the two countries, demonstrating the respect that the two close friends have for each other. This is the realization of President Ramaphosa's wish and determination to visit Vietnam in his very busy schedule, especially before the G20 Summit this year, hosted by South Africa, exactly one month later.

The visit is expected to be an important occasion for both sides to affirm their friendship and close cooperation in many fields, at many international forums; and to share experiences in the process of building and developing each country. In particular, this is an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to evaluate, exchange, and agree on directions to strengthen and promote bilateral relations more comprehensively and strongly, focusing on increasing economic, trade and investment cooperation commensurate with the good political relations and exploiting more strongly the potential and strengths of both sides in the new conditions. From there, determine the direction to elevate the relationship between the two countries.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa received Ambassador Hoang Sy Cuong at the presentation of credentials ceremony on October 3, 2023. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa)

Vietnam and South Africa are both dynamic economies with great potential to complement each other. According to the Ambassador, what are the highlights and areas of cooperation that can become new growth drivers in the bilateral relationship?

Vietnam is a dynamic economy with a high growth rate. South Africa is currently the number 1 economy in Africa, with a good foundation and much development potential. Economic cooperation between the two countries has developed quite well. South Africa has been Vietnam's number 1 trade partner in Africa in recent years, with two-way trade turnover increasing from 192 million USD in 2007 to nearly 1.8 billion USD in 2024.

Even during the Covid pandemic, bilateral trade remained quite stable, with the structure of goods exchange between the two economies complementing each other. Vietnam mainly exports electronics, phones and components, textiles, footwear, agricultural products (coffee, rice, cashew nuts, pepper), and imports many types of minerals from its friends, of which coal accounts for a large proportion, fruits (grapes, apples, pears), wood, minerals, and chemicals. The exchange of these items still has the potential to grow further.

At the same time, the two sides have the potential to promote cooperation in the fields of new energy, green, climate finance; e-commerce, banking and finance; science, technology and innovation, and tourism. Especially in terms of investment, the two sides have almost no significant investment projects in each other. This is an area with much room for connection and promotion, especially in the conditions that the two countries have the gateway position of the two regions, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa, respectively, with free trade agreements of each region in which the two countries participate.

What are your expectations for the specific results of this visit and new developments in Vietnam-South Africa relations in the coming time, especially in the context of South Africa assuming the role of Chair of the G20 Group in 2025?

This State visit of the President of South Africa is expected to bring about a number of important results.

Firstly, it contributes significantly to creating a foundation towards promoting the bilateral relationship framework; turning political determination into cooperation reality, focusing on economics, trade and investment.

Second, promote more specific commitments between ministries, sectors and business communities of both sides; first of all, review and speed up negotiations, soon sign documents and cooperation agreements in specific fields that the two sides have discussed for a long time and new cooperation contents.

Regarding international relations, this visit is an opportunity for both sides to share visions and affirm common values, including upholding multilateralism and respecting international law; promoting reform of international institutions in a more equitable and positive direction; paying attention to solving global issues, with more attention to poor and developing countries; and joining hands to address non-traditional security challenges.

Vietnam affirmed its support for South Africa's Chairmanship and efforts to prepare for the success of the 2025 G20 Summit; at the same time, it respectfully thanked South Africa for inviting the Prime Minister of Vietnam to attend the Summit, and pledged to actively contribute to the success of the Summit.

This visit by President Ramaphosa to Vietnam, as well as other Southeast Asian countries and to attend the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia also demonstrates the importance and desire to strongly promote South Africa's comprehensive relationship with the Southeast Asian region.

Thank you very much, Ambassador!

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dau-moc-dac-biet-quan-trong-trong-quan-he-viet-nam-nam-phi-331794.html