According to a special correspondent of the Vietnam News Agency, within the framework of a working trip to attend the G20 Summit and bilateral activities in South Africa , on the morning of November 21 local time, in Johannesburg city, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and South African Vice President Paul Mashatile attended the Vietnam-South Africa Business Forum.
After more than 30 years of establishing diplomatic relations, the Vietnam-South Africa "Partnership for Cooperation and Development" relationship is growing.
Economic and trade cooperation is an important pillar. Total bilateral trade turnover in 2024 will reach 1.72 billion USD. Vietnam mainly exports electronics, phones and components, textiles, footwear, agricultural products to South Africa and imports fruits, wood, minerals and chemicals from South Africa.
As of July 2025, South Africa has 20 valid investment projects in Vietnam, with an investment capital of 0.88 million USD. Meanwhile, Vietnam has 4 investment projects in South Africa with a total capital of 8.86 million USD, ranking 45th out of 84 countries and territories where Vietnam invests abroad.
At the forum, delegates were introduced to the investment environment in Vietnam and South Africa; as well as the economic and investment cooperation situation between the two countries. In particular, businesses from both countries presented their capabilities and desires to cooperate in many fields; and requested the governments of both countries to create conditions for businesses to have specific cooperation projects in the coming time.
In particular, the fields of interest to both sides include: mineral exploitation, oil exploration and exploitation, electric energy, agriculture, processing and manufacturing technology, etc.
Speaking at the Forum, South African Vice President Paul Mashatile sent a warm welcome to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to South Africa, witnessing the Ubuntu spirit (South African solidarity) that South Africa is very proud of.
According to the Vice President, this is a pivotal moment for the business communities of the two countries. The organization of the Forum on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, following the very successful State visit of the President of South Africa to Vietnam, opens a new chapter for bilateral relations.
The two governments reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cooperation in a wide range of areas from trade, industry, agriculture, science and technology, renewable energy and digital transformation.
This visit not only strengthened the deep friendship between the two countries, but also succeeded in shaping a new direction for development in the coming years.
The South African Vice President said that over the years, South Africa has been Vietnam's leading partner in the region. South Africa plays a role as a diversified economy in Africa, connecting more than 1.4 billion people in a single market.
According to the Vice President of South Africa, the African free trade area brings benefits to both countries, but many opportunities have not been exploited.
The two governments have committed to creating an enabling environment for investment; facilitating trade, promoting infrastructure, and providing financial support. South Africa encourages Vietnamese businesses to seek investment opportunities in South Africa's special economic zones; welcomes South African businesses to invest in Vietnam's industrial clusters and technology parks; and strengthens cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the two countries.
The South African Vice President stressed that as host of the G20 Summit, South Africa emphasizes cooperation between emerging countries. Entrepreneurs are the driving force of this process and it is important to build bridges across the borders of the two countries.
This forum needs to identify effective projects, promote joint ventures, and industrialize skills to promote inclusive development. The two governments are ready to support the business communities of both countries.
The South African Vice President said that it is necessary to promote the relationship between the two countries to a new level. The agreement to elevate bilateral trade relations brings benefits to the people, and cooperation between the two countries also demonstrates that developing countries can respect each other and achieve sustainable prosperity.
For his part, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the relationship between the two countries has recently been promoted very positively, demonstrated through high-level visits.
The Prime Minister said the Forum is an opportunity to meet, connect, take action and create products. Immediately after, the Prime Minister will meet the President of South Africa, and the two sides will announce the upgrade of relations to a Strategic Partnership.
With the spirit of “A creative state, pioneering enterprises, public and private sector working together, a developed country, happy people, and benefiting entrepreneurs,” the Prime Minister stated that the two countries have an extremely good political relationship: together fighting for national liberation, expressing the desire for freedom. Therefore, there is no reason not to stand side by side for rapid and sustainable development.
From a solid political foundation, there must be balanced economic, trade and investment cooperation products. The Prime Minister called on the business communities of the two countries to increase investment, solidarity, cooperation and mutual support for mutual win, development and happiness.
Informing about the results and orientation of the country's development, the Prime Minister said that Vietnam is implementing two 100-year strategic goals in an extremely difficult context. To achieve these two goals, by 2025, Vietnam must achieve an economic growth rate of 8% or more, and in the following years must achieve double-digit growth to achieve the goal of becoming a high-income developed country by 2045.
The Prime Minister shared that agriculture has helped Vietnam escape poverty; industry has helped Vietnam approach the upper middle income level; from now until 2045, Vietnam will use science and technology to help the country become a developed country with high income.
Informing that during that process, Vietnam has learned a lot from South Africa and hopes that the two countries will continue to unite and promote economic, trade and investment cooperation, the Prime Minister called on Vietnamese enterprises to invest in agricultural production in South Africa, such as rice and products that South Africa is importing, to meet South Africa's needs as well as for export; followed by energy development, including renewable energy; investing in logistics development; increasing exports of South African products, moving towards signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
The Prime Minister hopes that South Africa will invest in new growth engine areas such as innovation, green economy, creative economy; increase processed products with the spirit of maximizing the potential differences, outstanding opportunities, competitive advantages, with the intelligence of South African and Vietnamese people, combined with the close cooperation mechanism and development aspirations of the two countries, the two sides will turn nature into products that contribute to development.
The Prime Minister proposed upgrading the Intergovernmental Committee coordinated by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries. Enterprises need to establish working groups to promote cooperation, with the desire to contribute, to turn natural resources into products with higher added value and more value.
At the forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and South African Vice President Paul Mashatile witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between enterprises in the following fields: transfer of strategic 3D radar technology; launching production projects in Vietnam and cooperation in research and development of technologies in the field of strategic technology; developing cooperation in the fields of tourism, air transport and related trade activities between Vietnam and South Africa./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/doanh-nghiep-viet-nam-nam-phi-tang-ket-noi-huong-toi-cac-du-an-hop-tac-moi-post1078490.vnp
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