President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló & President of the Republic of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi.

HÀ NỘI — The Presidents of two African nations, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, are visiting Việt Nam at the invitation of Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President Tô Lâm.

President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his wife are paying an official visit to Việt Nam from September 5 to 9.

This marks the first time a president of the West African country has made an official trip to Việt Nam since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973, said foreign ministry spokesperson Phạm Thu Hằng on Thursday at a press briefing in Hà Nội.

Việt Nam and Guinea-Bissau share a longstanding partnership. Việt Nam is Guinea-Bissau's largest export market worldwide, while Guinea-Bissau is one of Việt Nam's top five suppliers of cashew nuts in Africa.

The two countries have maintained cooperation in various fields and signed multiple bilateral agreements, including in culture, economics, trade, industry and science and technology.

Both Việt Nam and Guinea-Bissau also regularly collaborate and support each other in multilateral forums.

This high-level visit reaffirms Việt Nam's commitment to developing its partnerships with African nations, including Guinea-Bissau.

The visit also aims to lay the foundation for promoting cooperation between the two countries in various domains, including traditional areas of cooperation like politics, economics, trade, agriculture, fisheries and processing industries, while expanding into new areas, namely infrastructure, development, seaports and mining, the spokesperson told the media.

During the visit, President Embaló is set to have talks with Vietnamese top leader Tô Lâm, meet with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and hold meetings with other high-level leaders of Việt Nam, as well as conduct other important state business, Hằng noted.

Immediately following President Embaló's visit, Việt Nam will host President of the Republic of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi and his wife from September 8 to 10, at the invitation of Vietnamese Party leader and President Tô Lâm.

This is the first visit by President Filipe to Việt Nam since his inauguration in 2015, and the first by the head of State of the East African country in 17 years, spokesperson Hằng remarked.

The spokesperson said Mozambique and Việt Nam share a traditional partnership, with both sides maintaining good relations, both at the Party and State level. The two countries engage in regular delegation exchanges and high-level contacts as well as actively coordinate and support each other in multilateral forums.

Both nations maintain good economic ties as well.

Hằng cited the example of the US$600 million telecommunications venture between Việt Nam's military-run telecom group Viettel and Mozambique's SPI company as a highlight in Việt Nam's foreign investment, which serves as a symbol of successful economic cooperation between Việt Nam and Mozambique.

The two countries also continue to collaborate in various other domains, primarily agriculture, healthcare and education.

According to the foreign ministry's representative, the Mozambican leader is scheduled for talks with Vietnamese top leader Tô Lâm as well as a meeting with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and other important activities. — VNS