Expectations for a breakthrough with countries in the Middle East and Africa.

From July 23-27, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang led a Vietnamese delegation on official visits to Israel and Egypt to promote friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and two leading partners in the Middle East-Africa region.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's visit to two countries in the Middle East-Africa region holds great significance as this year Vietnam celebrates the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel (July 12, 1993 - July 12, 2023) and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Egypt (September 1, 1963 - September 1, 2023).

The visit is a step in implementing the Project "Developing relations between Vietnam and countries in the Middle East-Africa region giai đoạn 2016-2025" and the Project "Strengthening international cooperation to build and develop the Halal industry in Vietnam until 2030".

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met with President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog. (Source: VGP)

Marking a major milestone through the FTA with Israel.

In Israel – a country with a high level of development in science, technology, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the region – this marks the first time in eight years that a Vietnamese delegation led by a Deputy Prime Minister has paid an official visit to Israel, and it is also a highlight in the series of activities commemorating three decades of bilateral relations throughout 2023.

During the visit, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met with President Isaac Herzog; held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; attended the celebration of the 78th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day and the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Israel; visited the Vietnamese Embassy headquarters and met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Israel; and visited iconic Israeli facilities for entrepreneurship and innovation.

During the meetings, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang affirmed that Vietnam always values ​​and wishes to further strengthen and develop the friendly and multifaceted cooperative relationship with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli side highly appreciates Vietnam's role, position, and remarkable socio-economic development in recent years, and expects that Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's visit will open up good opportunities to strongly promote multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

Both sides agreed to further promote relations through measures such as strengthening exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially at the high level; coordinating and supporting each other in international forums and organizations; promoting exchanges of business delegations and organizing trade and investment promotion activities; and exploring the possibility of opening direct flights between the two countries to boost economic cooperation, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Emphasizing that the priority areas for cooperation between the two countries are science and technology and high-tech agriculture, both sides agreed to encourage and facilitate increased investment and experience sharing between businesses of the two countries in areas where Israel has strengths, such as startups, innovation, high-tech agriculture, and information technology.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Prime Minister B. Netanyahu witnessed the signing ceremony of the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement. (Source: VGP)

The highlight of the visit was the signing of the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA), marking the culmination of the tireless efforts of both countries after seven years and 12 rounds of negotiations. The VIFTA signing ceremony took place in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel was the first country in the Middle East with which Vietnam signed an FTA, while Vietnam was the first country in Southeast Asia with which Israel signed an FTA.

The signing of VIFTA is a significant milestone, contributing to the completion of the legal framework, "connecting" the strengths of the two countries' economies, and creating favorable conditions for Vietnam to promote the export of its key products to Israel.

"Given that exchanges between the two sides have not fully recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels, the high-level visit to Israel led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang opens up opportunities and creates new impetus for people, businesses, and localities of the two countries to continue connecting, trading, exchanging, and sharing, thereby helping to further strengthen bilateral relations."

Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Ly Duc Trung

This agreement also opens up opportunities to access high-tech products from Israel, contributing to reducing production and business costs and enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods in the potentially lucrative Middle East region.

With this major milestone, both sides hope that economic cooperation, especially in trade and investment, will be elevated to a new level, with bilateral trade soon reaching $3 billion and even higher in the future.

The tangible results of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's visit have contributed to further strengthening Vietnam-Israel cooperation in many fields, from agriculture and health to education, innovation, and entrepreneurship. It also creates expectations for breakthroughs in economic, trade, and investment cooperation in the future, commensurate with the potential and aspirations of the leaders and people of both countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and the Vietnamese Government delegation with the President of the Egyptian Senate, Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razek, on July 26. (Source: VGP)

Strengthening traditional cooperation with Egypt.

At his second stop in Egypt – North Africa's most populous country – Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang held talks with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, met with Senate President Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razek, met with First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmed Saad El-Din Mohamed Abd El-Rehim, worked with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and met with leaders of Egyptian ministries and departments.

In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister also witnessed the signing of several bilateral cooperation agreements, attended the ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, met with the Vietnamese community in Egypt, and visited several cultural and economic establishments.

During discussions with Egyptian leaders, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang affirmed that Vietnam always values ​​and expects to strengthen multifaceted relations between the two countries in a comprehensive, effective, and practical manner. Meanwhile, the Egyptian side expressed its appreciation and desire to promote traditional friendship with Vietnam.

Affirming that the two countries still have much room for cooperation with domestic markets of over 100 million people each, both sides exchanged views and agreed on a number of measures to further deepen the traditional friendship through measures such as strengthening exchanges of delegations at all levels and sectors, people-to-people exchanges, and consolidating effective cooperation.

Economically, both sides agreed to further open their markets to each other's strong products, encourage businesses from both sides to strengthen exchanges and connections, promote cooperation in the Halal sector, create favorable conditions for investors from each country, and soon hold the sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for agencies, ministries, and sectors of both sides to exchange views and resolve difficulties and obstacles in current cooperation…

Egypt is currently Vietnam's leading trading partner in the North African region. Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Egypt reached nearly US$600 million in 2022 and is striving to reach US$1 billion. To create a breakthrough in trade cooperation, both sides discussed researching and negotiating agreements on economic and trade cooperation in the near future.

Taking place as the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the visit became an important milestone, contributing to creating new momentum and promoting cooperation between Vietnam and Egypt in promising areas such as economics, trade, logistics, culture, and education.

In summary, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang's visits to Israel and Egypt shared commonalities: diverse interactions with leaders and top officials of each country, representatives of prominent businesses and corporations, and visits to the Vietnamese community in those countries. Through these visits, specific goals were achieved, demonstrating a proactive and positive approach to expanding and deepening relations with these two leading partners in the Middle East and Africa, while also reflecting the Party and State's concern for the Vietnamese community abroad.

“Vietnam and Egypt have enormous potential for developing bilateral cooperation in the coming years. Each country has a domestic market of over 100 million people that remains largely untapped. If our domestic industries can successfully transform and produce Halal products with strong government support, not only Egypt but also other Muslim countries will open up a market of approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide for us.”

Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt Nguyen Huy Dung

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ky-vong-dot-pha-voi-cac-nuoc-trung-dong-chau-phi-236116.html