Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Anh Tuấn. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam and Ghana have agreed to strengthen cooperation across a range of promising sectors such as national defence, security, education and training, information technology, telecommunications, infrastructure development and logistics at the first political consultation between the two countries' foreign ministries.

As part of a working visit to West Africa from July 2-3, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Anh Tuấn visited Ghana and co-chaired the inaugural political consultation with Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs James Gyakye Quayson.

At the political consultation, the two deputy ministers briefed each other on development steps in their respective countries, reviewed bilateral relations, discussed measures to expand cooperation, and exchanged views on coordination at regional and international forums.

Tuấn highlighted the longstanding friendship between Việt Nam and Ghana, built on the foundations laid by President Hồ Chí Minh and Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s. He called for stronger political trust through high-level exchanges and more effective use of the two countries' economic strengths to support their long-term development goals.

Noting that Ghana became Việt Nam's fourth-largest trading partner in Africa and that two-way trade exceeded US$1 billion for the first time in 2025, Tuấn proposed broadening and diversifying traded goods, establishing information-sharing mechanisms on markets, policies and business opportunities, and accelerating negotiations on key economic agreements, including those on double taxation avoidance and investment promotion and protection.

The Vietnamese official also suggested the two countries appoint honorary consuls to facilitate bilateral exchanges.

For his part, Quayson praised Việt Nam's impressive socio-economic achievements and agricultural development model, expressing Ghana's interest in learning from Việt Nam's experience in developing value chains for rice, cashew nuts, rubber and aquaculture.

He said such cooperation would help Ghana reduce its raw commodity exports, increase the added value of domestically produced goods, strengthen food security and boost exports.

The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in defence, security, education and training, telecommunications, information technology, infrastructure development and logistics. They also supported closer links between the business communities of the two countries, including the possible establishment of a Vietnam-Ghana Business Council.

On behalf of the two governments, Tuấn and Quayson signed an agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports.

During the trip, Tuấn also had working sessions with President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) Stephane Miezan and Chief of Staff of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Rui Livramento, and visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. — VNA/VNS