President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa at a parliamentary vote in Cape Town, South Africa, on June 14, 2024. — VNA/VNS Photo Cát Thị Thúy Hạnh

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng on June 14 sent a congratulatory message to the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party, Cyril Ramaphosa, on his re-election as President of South Africa in the 2024-2029 tenure.

Việt Nam and South Africa established diplomatic relations on December 22, 1993, which developed from the cooperative relationship between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the African National Congress in the 1960s.

South Africa is currently Việt Nam's largest trading partner and export market and also its first and only "Partner for Cooperation and Development" in Africa. Bilateral trade in recent years has averaged US$1.2 billion annually. — VNS