Creating a breakthrough and bringing Vietnam-South Africa cooperation to new heights

Since the 5th Session in 2022, Vietnam-South Africa relations have had positive developments, increasingly deepening, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries.

On November 27, the 6th Session of the Vietnam-South Africa Intergovernmental Partnership Forum took place in Pretoria (South Africa) under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang and South African Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Anna Thandi Moraka.

The forum is a main activity of Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang during her visit and work in South Africa from November 25-27.

Participating in the Vietnamese interdisciplinary delegation were Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Hoang Sy Cuong, representatives from the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Supreme People's Procuracy .

The Intergovernmental Forum is a regular mechanism for comprehensively reviewing and exchanging measures to promote Vietnam-South Africa relations in all areas of cooperation. The 6th session of the Forum takes place in a special context when the two countries celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Forum and establish the "Partnership for Cooperation and Development", the first and only partnership framework to date between Vietnam and an African country.

Speaking at the opening of the session, Deputy Minister Anna Thandi Moraka, Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Partnership Forum, welcomed Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang's first visit to South Africa, highly appreciated Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements and its role and position in the region and international forums.

Emphasizing South Africa's priority in enhancing cooperation with Vietnam, Ms. Moraka expressed her desire to increase exchanges and contacts between the two countries to promote effective cooperation in all fields, especially in politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, and coordination to promote the voice and role of developing countries in global issues.

Thanking the South African Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation for his kind comments and sentiments, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang congratulated South Africa on its development achievements under the leadership of the Government of National Unity, affirming that Vietnam attaches importance to developing partnership for cooperation and development with South Africa.

Identifying South Africa as one of Vietnam's leading important partners in Africa, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang suggested that the two sides increase exchanges and agree on measures to create breakthroughs and bring the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and South Africa to new heights.

The two Deputy Ministers expressed their delight that the Vietnam-South Africa relationship since the 5th Session in 2022 has had positive developments, increasingly deepening, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries, especially after the visits to South Africa by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and the visit to Vietnam by South African Vice President Paul Mashatile on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2023.

Recognizing that the two countries still have much potential to develop bilateral relations, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate in building a program of high-level delegation exchanges in 2025 to enhance political trust and create new momentum to promote bilateral cooperation in all fields.

Gonsa Joint Stock Company (GSPharm) Vietnam and Mothopo Pharma-Chem South Africa Company signed a cooperation agreement. (Photo: Hong Minh/VNA)

Appreciating Vietnam's role, position and contributions to global issues, in its role as host of the G20 in 2025, the South African side welcomed Vietnam's participation in contributing to the G20 agenda.

Congratulations to Vietnam on assuming the Chairmanship of the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G), and as a member country of P4G, South Africa expressed its readiness to support Vietnam in successfully hosting the P4G Summit in 2025, thereby contributing to global efforts for rapid and sustainable development.

Agreeing that economic, trade and investment cooperation is an important pillar in bilateral relations, the two sides agreed on many important measures to maximize the potential and strengths of both sides.

The two sides agreed to soon organize the 6th meeting of the Joint Trade Committee, increase trade promotion delegations, share market information, trade and investment cooperation opportunities, coordinate to conduct a feasibility study on the possibility of opening FTA negotiations between Vietnam and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) of which South Africa is a member, promote cooperation in new fields such as Halal, renewable energy, food processing, agricultural products, etc.

The two sides affirmed the importance of promoting cooperation in the fields of defense, security, justice, environment, higher education, training, tourism, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, etc. through effectively implementing signed documents and accelerating negotiations on important cooperation documents in various fields to create a favorable legal framework for bilateral cooperation.

Vietnam and South Africa agreed to strengthen coordination and mutual support at regional and international forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations, Non-Alignment, ASEAN, African Union (AU), etc.; agreed to uphold multilateralism, international law, support peaceful settlement of disputes, reform the global governance system to be balanced and effective, and promote the role and voice of developing countries.

South Africa expressed its respect for ASEAN's consistent stance on resolving international disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyen, member of the Party Central Committee and Standing Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, introduced images of Hanoi to South African guests. (Photo: Hong Minh/VNA)

At the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa signed the Minutes of the 6th Meeting of the Vietnam-South Africa Intergovernmental Partnership Forum and agreed to hold the 7th Meeting in Vietnam.

During the working trip, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang worked with Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Narend Singh, Executive Director of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alan Mukoki, Director of the South African National Halal Certification Authority and a number of typical South African enterprises in the Halal field.

At the working session with Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Narend Singh, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang thanked South Africa for supporting Vietnam to become the host country of the P4G Summit 2025.

The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation, share experiences and good practices on green transformation, improve bilateral legal frameworks on cooperation in the fields of biodiversity conservation, wildlife protection, climate change adaptation, resource management, and implement projects within the frameworks of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and P4G. The two sides also discussed the possibilities and opportunities for tripartite and South-South cooperation in a number of potential areas, especially agriculture and fisheries.

At the meeting with the Executive Director of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alan Mukoki, and a number of South African agencies and typical enterprises in the Halal sector, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang highly appreciated the achievements that South Africa has made in the Halal industry. The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in developing the Halal industry through sharing experiences, opportunities for trade and investment cooperation, and support in training experts in the Halal sector.

South Africa said it will soon send a delegation of businesses in the fields of livestock (beef, chicken, lamb), vegetables, tubers, fruits, etc. to survey the market and discuss cooperation opportunities on Halal in Vietnam. South Africa highly appreciates Vietnam's policy on promoting the development of the Halal industry, believing that Vietnam has great potential to develop this important industry.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tao-dot-pha-va-dua-quan-he-hop-tac-viet-nam-nam-phi-len-tam-cao-moi-post847360.html