Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday (local time). — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

RIO DE JANEIRO — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the expanded BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday (local time), during which they agreed to foster bilateral cooperation in several specific areas.

The Vietnamese Government leader confirmed that Việt Nam considers South Africa one of its most important partners in Africa, and highlighted the African country’s position and prestige in the regional and international arena, especially as it prepares to assume the Presidency of the G20 in 2025. He expressed his wish to further strengthen the partnership for cooperation and development between the two countries.

He stated that there remains vast potential for Việt Nam and South Africa to complement each other and deepen their comprehensive cooperation, especially in the areas of economy, trade, investment, education and training, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, thus paving the way for elevating bilateral relations to a new level.

He thanked South Africa for inviting Việt Nam’s high-ranking leaders to attend the G20 Summit and extended an invitation to Ramaphosa to visit Việt Nam at an early date.

For his part, Ramaphosa highlighted the importance of his phone talks with Party General Secretary Tô Lâm in April, saying that the discussion contributed to further deepening the relations between the two Parties and two countries.

He spoke highly of Việt Nam’s socio-economic development achievements, confirming that South Africa attaches great importance to the traditional friendship nurtured by generations of leaders and people of both countries since the struggles against colonialism and apartheid. He noted that this relationship has continued to grow stronger in the current climate of national development. The South African president also expressed his desire to pay a visit to Việt Nam later this year.

The two sides discussed major directions for advancing bilateral relations and agreed to consider signing agreements and legal frameworks to boost economic, education and defence - security cooperation, as well as expand collaboration into other potential areas such as energy, mining, sustainable use of natural resources, infrastructure development and climate change response.

The leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues of shared concern, reaffirming their commitment to promoting multilateralism, respecting international law and stepping up South-South cooperation. — VNS