HÀ NỘI — Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries can learn from Việt Nam’s progress in economic development and poverty reduction, South African Ambassador and chairman of the SADC Mpetjane Lekgoro said at a ceremony on Friday evening in Hà Nội.

The ceremony, organised by the embassies of South Africa, Angola and Mozambique in Việt Nam, celebrated the 27th SADC Day, held on August 17 every year.

The event was also designed to introduce more Vietnamese people to the SADC, an intergovernmental organisation which was founded on August 17, 1992 in Namibia.

SADC was founded to promote socio-economic development through efficient production systems, good governance, co-operation and integration and long-term peace and security between 16 member states in southern Africa such as Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.

The close relationship between Việt Nam and the SADC shows great potential for strengthening co-operation on trade, investment, tourism and technology, said Lekgoro.

Leonardo Rosario Manuel Pene, Mozambique Ambassador, expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese Government and people for supporting Mozambique residents in dealing with the consequences of floods in March and April this year. — VNS