Vietnamese Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân (left) had talks with Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane on September 11 in Maputo. — VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

MAPUTO — Vietnamese Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân has stressed that Việt Nam always treasures the traditional friendly cooperative relationship with Mozambique and sees it as one of Việt Nam's key cooperation partners in Africa.

Speaking during talks with Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane on September 11 (local time) in the capital Maputo, Vice President Xuân expressed her joy at her first official visit to Mozambique and thanked the Mozambican leader for the respectful welcome given to the delegation. The Vice President respectfully conveyed Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính's greetings to the Prime Minister of Mozambique.

For his part, PM Adriano Maleiane warmly welcomed the visit of Vice President Xuân, considering it an important new milestone in the relationship between the two countries. He affirmed that Mozambique always considers Việt Nam one of its top priority partners in Asia.

The two leaders informed each other about each country's situation and congratulated the achievements that Mozambique and Việt Nam have achieved in socio-economic development and recovery, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Both sides expressed joy at the positive progress in bilateral relations recently, with the maintenance of delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially high level, and across all Party, State and National Assembly channels. The two sides successfully organised the 4th Meeting of the Việt Nam-Mozambique Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Culture and Scientific-Technology Cooperation in May this year after a nine-year hiatus.

Telecommunications cooperation with Movitel Company – a joint venture between Việt Nam's Viettel Group and Mozambique’s SPI - and Việt Nam's food crop development cooperation in Mozambique have become bright spots in bilateral relations. Cooperation in the fields of trade, education-training and health has also made encouraging progress.

However, agreeing that the results of cooperation are not commensurate with the great potential of the two sides, the two leaders discussed and agreed on major directions and measures to deepen bilateral cooperation. Regarding politics and diplomacy, the two sides agreed to actively implement the results of the phone call between Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng and Chairman of the FRELIMO Party, President of Mozambique in June 2022 and the 4th Meeting of the Việt Nam-Mozambique Intergovernmental Committee in May 2023; promote delegation exchanges and high-level contacts. They also agreed to actively support each other at regional and multilateral forums.

Regarding the economy, the two leaders expressed their determination to further increase bilateral trade turnover to match the market needs of 130 million people of the two countries through further facilitation of each other's significant products so that the two countries can expand to each other's markets. The two leaders agreed to encourage businesses of the two countries to cooperate, including Movitel to expand investment and business in Mozambique. They also agreed to continue considering agriculture, including aquaculture, as a key area of cooperation to contribute to ensuring the world's supply chain and food security.

The Mozambican Prime Minister proposed a number of new areas of cooperation, including asking Việt Nam to cooperate and invest in infrastructure and transportation development in Mozambique with its experience. Meanwhile, Vietnamese Vice President Xuân proposed that the two sides strengthen mineral cooperation. The Mozambican side agreed and committed to promoting the early signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on coal trade with Việt Nam.

The host proposed to increase the number of scholarships, strengthen cultural exchanges, promote cooperation in fighting transnational crime and protecting wildlife. In response, the guest suggested the two sides well implement the signed agreements in the above fields, and said the Vietnamese side would actively consider increasing scholarships for Mozambican students to study in Việt Nam.

On this occasion, Xuân conveyed the invitation of PM Chính to the Prime Minister of Mozambique to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time.

Xuân and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation are on an official visit to the Republic of Mozambique from September 10-13 at the invitation of PM Adriano Maleiane. — VNS