President Trương Tấn Sang meets with Mozambicans during his visit to Maputo. - VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Khang

MAPUTO (VNS) – Việt Nam and Mozambique will work on concrete measures to boost their ties, according to talks between visiting Vietnamese President Trưong Tấn Sang and his Mozambican counterpart, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.

The talks were held following a welcome ceremony for President Sang with the highest rituals for a Head of State in the capital city of Maputo on Saturday.

President Sang expressed his delight at visiting the country after seven years in office, and spoke highly of Mozambique’s socio-economic achievements and reform in recent years.

President Nyusi hailed President Sang’s visit – the first made by a Vietnamese State leader, as a significant milestone in bilateral ties.

He said he considers Việt Nam a symbol of heroism for its national liberation and admires the country for its successes reaped during the national construction and development process.

Regarding political relations, both sides committed to facilitating all-level visits and supporting each other at international forums and organisations.

On regional and global issues of shared concern, the two countries pledged continued efforts to maintain global peace and stability, agreeing that territorial border issues must be settled by peaceful means in line with international law.

President Sang thanked Mozambique for backing his country’s bid for a seat at the UN Economic and Social Council for 2016-18. He also requested the African country’s support for Việt Nam to become a member of the International Law Commission for the 2017-21 tenure and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2020-21.

They agreed that the Inter-Governmental Committee and political consultation mechanism between the two Foreign Ministries should be made regular with a variety of specific goals.

Both parties said that trade between the two nations remains modest, and they vowed to direct ministries and departments to discuss specific measures to lift two-way trade to at least $500 million by 2020.

Việt Nam asked Mozambique to create an economic co-operation framework conducive to their business communities, with the construction of a bonded warehouse as an immediate plan.

The two leaders expressed delight at the Movitel joint venture between Việt Nam’s telecommunication group Viettel and Mozambique’s SPI Company, stating that its success is a testament to Việt Nam’s effective investment in Mozambique.

President Nyusi said Mozambique highly values the contributions Movitel has made to the country’s socio-economic development, and agreed to expand the co-operation model to other fields such as petroleum, trade, agricultural processing and construction.

The two sides agreed to boost connections in agriculture and aquatic products. President Nyusi said Mozambique appreciates the success of the rice-growing project between Việt Nam, Mozambique and Japan, which introduced high-yield varieties in the country.

He said Mozambique hopes Việt Nam will send experts to work at its aquatic research institute and help develop fish breeding models at sea.

The two leaders also shared the view that relevant ministries and sectors should accelerate the delayed joint project on planting rubber trees.

In the field of transport, the Mozambican President said his country wants to foster ties with Việt Nam in navigation and marine transport, adding that it is drafting a law calling for private investment in the sector. He also suggested Việt Nam continue to help his country in training staff for the maritime sector.

The Vietnamese side said it was willing to assist Mozambique in training staff for information technology, military medicine and telecommunications as well as share its experience in preventing and fighting natural disasters, crime, terrorism, violence and wildfires.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate negotiations for the signing of agreements on the protection of confidential information, extradition and the transfer of sentenced prisoners.

They also reached a consensus on the early organisation of the fourth Inter-Governmental Committee to realise agreements reached during their talks.

After the talks, the two Presidents oversaw the signing of the Annex to the Protocol on co-operation in education and training between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and Mozambique’s Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.

President meets Mozambican leaders

President Trương Tấn Sang and his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Jacinto Nyusi watch the Mozambican Army’s guard of honour. – VNA/VNS Photos Nguyễn Khang

President Trương Tấn Sang met Speaker of the Parliament of Mozambique Veronica Macamo and Secretary General of the ruling Liberation Front (Frelimo) Party Eliseu Machava in Maputo on Saturday (local time).
Speaker Macamo hailed the visit as an important milestone in bilateral ties and affirmed her determination to strengthen experience-sharing between the two legislatures, work closely at inter-parliamentary organisations and intensify bilateral ties in economics, trade, telecommunications and agriculture.
She proposed signing a co-operative agreement between the two legislatures.
The President spoke highly of the Mozambican Parliament’s role in national development.
In a separate meeting with Frelimo Party leader Machava, the Vietnamese leader briefed his host about the outcomes of the 12th National Party Congress. He called on the two countries to maintain close co-operation and said he believed that under the sound leadership of the Frelimo Party, Mozambique will reap more successes throughout the nation’s development, fostering the traditional friendship between the two Parties and peoples.
Machava said Frelimo appreciates and always does its best to solidify its long-standing ties with Việt Nam.
He thanked Việt Nam for sharing experiences with Frelimo in Party-building and personnel training. A number of Party members who took training courses in Việt Nam ascended to high ranks in the Party.
The same day, President Sang and President Nyusi attended the Mozambique-Việt Nam business forum co-hosted by the Confederation of Business Associations and the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with nearly 200 firms taking part.
While discussing the goal to raise two-way trade to $500 million by 2020, a majority of participants said they highly valued Việt Nam’s potential in various fields, particularly in farm produce processing, garments and wooden furniture.
With Mozambique’s strengths in crude materials, they described it as fertile ground for Vietnamese investors.
President Nyusi said in its “Look East” policy, the Mozambican Government focused on the areas of agriculture, energy, tourism, construction and transport, and has offered incentives to attract foreign investment.
He asked the two business communities to continue discussing a plan to open a bonded warehouse and launch an inter-bank payment mechanism.
He said he believes that with Vietnamese and Mozambican leaders’ support, more and more Vietnamese firms will come to Mozambique, following the success of Movitel.
Also on the same day, President Sang visited Movitel and met Vietnamese nationals living in the country.
The State leader and his associates left Maputo yesterday, concluding their Mozambican visit and embarking on a trip to Iran.
According to a joint statement issued following his visit, the two countries’ leaders agreed to facilitate high-level visits and deepen bilateral ties in farming, aquaculture, maritime transport, aviation, education-training, health care, science-technology, national defence-security and disaster mitigation.
Both sides expressed their wish to strengthen consultation mechanisms and coordinate efforts on multilateral issues to protect the interests of developing countries and promote fairer development in a global political and economic order. —VNS