Upgrading Vietnam - South Africa relations to Strategic Partnership this year

(Dan Tri) - Vietnam and South Africa agreed to promote market opening for each side's goods and products and actively negotiate and soon sign more important cooperation documents...

On the afternoon of October 23, at a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that the two countries have always been good friends and good partners, always supporting and helping each other, and was pleased that both countries now have increasing roles and positions in the international arena.

The Prime Minister said that the two countries have strengths that can complement each other for mutual development, and the room and potential to promote cooperation between the two countries is still very large, continuing to expand cooperation into the fields of green transformation, digital transformation, creative economy , renewable energy, communications, and climate change response.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (Photo: Nhat Bac).

The Prime Minister asked South Africa to support Vietnam in soon starting negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).

Thanking President Cyril Ramaphosa for his invitation to attend the G20 Summit in 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam is ready to participate and actively contribute to the overall success of this important event.

At the meeting, the South African President affirmed that Vietnam is a close friend and reliable partner of South Africa in the Asian region, and highly appreciated Vietnam's effective development model and open, active and responsible foreign policy towards the international community.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the two countries have strengths that can complement each other to develop together and enhance their position in the international arena.

The South African President hopes that the two sides will strengthen business connections in the fields of mining, manufacturing industry, agriculture, electric cars, high-quality human resource training, maritime...

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (Photo: Nhat Bac).

The two sides agreed to promote market opening for each side's goods and products and actively negotiate and soon sign more important cooperation documents to facilitate further increase in trade turnover and investment cooperation between the two countries such as the Agreement on Judicial Assistance, the Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation, the Agreement on Visa Exemption for Ordinary Passport Holders, etc.

The two leaders agreed to promptly complete internal procedures to upgrade the bilateral relationship framework to a Strategic Partnership in 2025, making the Vietnam-South Africa relationship a model of cooperation between southern countries.

Regarding multilateral cooperation, the two sides agreed to strengthen coordination and support each other's stance on regional and international issues at international forums and organizations, together promote multilateralism and South-South cooperation, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in each region and in the world.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/nang-cap-quan-he-viet-nam-nam-phi-len-doi-tac-chien-luoc-trong-nam-nay-20251023211927662.htm