Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ hands Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute an official letter from Party General Secretary, President Nguyễn Phú Trọng to Cameroon President. – VNA/VNS Photo Phi Hùng

YAOUNDE – Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ visited Cameroon on Friday and Saturday as part of his working trip to Africa.

At the talks with PM Ngute, the Vietnamese Deputy PM affirmed Việt Nam’s policy on promoting multi-faceted co-operation, particularly in economics and trade, with African countries, including Cameroon.

Huệ said to facilitate stronger bilateral collaboration, the two countries should intensify negotiations for bilateral agreements, creating a legal framework for trade as well as co-operation in other fields.

The Cameroon PM admired Việt Nam’s high economic growth of 6-7 per cent a year and said Cameroon wanted to learn from Việt Nam’s development model.

He said Cameroon hoped to set up co-operative ties with Việt Nam, with a focus on sectors where Cameroon has great potential and Việt Nam is strong at, such as agriculture and processing of cashew nuts, wood and coffee. He added that his country wished to boost bilateral ties in telecommunications, which have already started with the operation of Nextel, a joint venture between Việt Nam’s Viettel group and Bestcam, a Cameroon partner.

Discussing support for Vietnamese businesses operating in Cameroon including Nextel, Huệ appreciated the work of the Cameroon government and PM Ngute to facilitate their operation.

At working sessions with Vice President of the Senate Lamido Abubakary Abdulaye and Vice President of the National Assembly Etong Nzok Hilarion, Huệ highlighted the role of the two countries’ parliaments in making laws to facilitate the negotiations and signing of bilateral agreements.

He also noted the need to increase exchange of delegations between the two countries’ governments, sectors, trade associations and people, as well as promote co-operation in culture, education, sports and people-to-people exchange.

Huge co-operation potential with Ivory Coast

Việt Nam and the Ivory Coast have huge potential to boost collaboration, particularly in the fields of trade, thanks to sound political relations.

Huệ made the remark during a working session earlier with Vice President of Ivory Coast Daniel Kablan Duncan last Thursday during his visit to Africa.

Huệ said Việt Nam wanted to import more products of Ivory Coast’s strengths such as raw cashew and cotton.

Ivory Coast Vice President Duncan said he was impressed by Việt Nam’s socio-economic development in recent years, and informed the Vietnamese guest of his country’s achievements in national construction and development, which he described as a model for development in Africa.

As the International Monetary Fund and the African Development recommended Ivory Coast study economic development models of several countries in the region, including Việt Nam, Duncan expressed his hope to bolster co-operation with the Southeast Asian nation in rice cultivation, improving the quality of doctors and nurses, education and training, and IT development, among others.

Agricultural processing is a major source of income for the Ivory Coast, so the country wants to enhance co-operation with Việt Nam in the field.

At the event, both sides stressed the importance of setting up a legal framework for co-operative activities. They committed to accelerating negotiations and signing of documents such as an agreement on the encouragement and protection of investment and the double taxation avoidance agreement, to facilitate trade exchanges between enterprises from the two countries. -- VNS