The meeting saw, on the Vietnamese side, the presence of Mr. Vu Xuan Hong, VUFO’s President; Mr. Do Duc Dinh, VAFCA’s Vice Chairman; representatives of ministries, agencies at central and local levels; leaders and members of the Friendship Associations with African countries; former Vietnamese experts in Africa and students of the VIP International School.
Mrs. Kgomotso Ruth Magau, Ambassador of South Africa; ambassadors of Algeria, Egypt, Angola; diplomats, officers and South African friends in Vietnam were also present.
Addressing the celebration, Mr. Do Duc Dinh said, despite their far geographical distance, Vietnam and South Africa share many similarities in history and tradition. The two nations have supported and helped each other during the cause of national liberation and national construction. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations (22/12/1993), the bilateral relationship has constantly developed in the fields of politics, economics, culture, education, security and defense. High-level visits have frequently exchanged, such as the visit to South Africa by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in November 2004 and the visit to Vietnam by South African President Thabo Mbeki in May 2007… Economic and trade relations between Vietnam and South Africa have seen good developments. The two countries have signed a number of important documents as the Joint Statement on Partnership for Cooperation and Development, the Trade Agreement, the Trade Agreement stipulating most favoured nation for each other in two-way trade, the Agreement on establish Intergovernmental Partnership Forum on Cooperation in Economy, Trade, Science, Technology and Culture... The trade turnover between the two countries has grown steadily from 154 million USD in 2006 to 920 million USD in 2013.
Mr. Dinh showed his confidence that the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and South Africa will gain greater and more practical achievements for the benefit of our two nations and for the interest of peace, stability, in the region and the world over.
Ambassador Kgomotso Ruth Magau extended her thanks to VUFO for holding the significant meeting, and appreciated the role of VUFO and VAFCA in strengthening the cooperative relations between the Vietnamese people and African people.
The development and consolidation of solidarity and friendship ties between the people of South Africa and Vietnam started at the Bangdung Conference in 1955. The two countries have so far been in close cooperation for the development of their countries and economies, she affirmed.
According to the Ambassador, there have been on-going bilateral efforts to consolidate and strengthen relations between the people of the two countries, while exploring further opportunities for cooperation in other areas.
The Ambassador expected that the multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries will further be promoted and developed in the time to come.
Duc Minh
