Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính meets with his Senegalese counterpart Ousmane Sonko in Tianjin, China. —VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

TIANJIN — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính met with his Senegalese counterpart Ousmane Sonko on Wednesday morning (local time), on the sidelines of the 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Tianjin, China.

PM Chính conveyed greetings from Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, State President Lương Cường, and National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, PM Sonko, and other Senegalese leaders.

He also delivered an invitation from President Cường to President Faye to attend the signing ceremony of the UN Convention against Cybercrime in Hà Nội this October.

Highlighting Việt Nam’s principle of “working together, benefiting together, and developing together”, he reiterated the country’s readiness to continue dispatching agricultural experts to support Senegal’s food security through increasingly effective and innovative methods.

Noting Việt Nam’s recently obtained status as an observer to the African Union (AU), he sought Senegal’s support in deepening ties with African nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), while also requesting assistance for Vietnamese citizens and workers in Senegal.

Sonko, for his part, affirmed Senegal’s high regard for its friendship with Việt Nam and expressed a desire to intensify bilateral exchanges and people-to-people ties.

He underlined his country's readiness to serve as a bridge promoting cooperation between Việt Nam and both the AU and ECOWAS, and encouraged Vietnamese firms to tap into the 400-million-strong West African consumer market.

Thanking Việt Nam for its agricultural assistance, he noted his hope for continued support in rice and cashew cultivation.

He praised the success of Việt Nam’s agricultural cooperation model in other countries and voiced interest in expanding that model to benefit Senegal and other Global South nations.

The two leaders agreed to increase high-level exchanges and mutual visits, boost trade and investment promotion activities, facilitate business connections, and foster market access for each other’s key export products, with a strong focus on agriculture.

On the occasion, PM Chính invited PM Sonko to visit Việt Nam, an invitation the Senegalese leader accepted with pleasure. — VNA/VNS