Vietnam and South African to boost trade promotion

Vietnam and South Africa will further the bilateral cooperation on trade promotion, especially in agriculture, to restore and strengthen the mutual relation between the two nations after the COVID-19, according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) recently signed by South African Honorary Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and the General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development Vietnam.

Earlier, on the occasion of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of the 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA 2022) and within the sideline activities organized by the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (DIRCO) from August 8 February 12, Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Hoang Van Loi met and discussed measures to promote bilateral relations between the two nations with Mr. Supra Mahumapelo - The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation and Ms. Candish Mashego-Dlamini, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation at the Asia and Middle East.

During the meeting, Ambassador Loi briefed his host on Vietnam’s socio-economic development and key foreign policies as well as relations between the two countries and two legislatures.

Alongside his ASEAN counterparts, he proposed South Africa to continue backing ASEAN’s stance in regional and global issues and supporting each other at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), particularly as the 144th Assembly of the IPU will be held in Indonesia in late March.

The diplomat took the occasion to announce the Vietnamese National Assembly’s approval of the establishment of the Vietnam-South Africa friendship parliamentarians’ group in an effort to promote cooperation between the two national assemblies and the two countries at large. He suggested that the South African legislature found a similar organization to foster connection and exchanges.

Mahumapelo vowed to closely coordinate with ambassadors of ASEAN member states to further foster solidarity and friendship between the two sides through parliament-to-parliament, government-to-government and people-to-people exchanges.

In his meeting with Deputy Minister of DIRCO Candith Mashego-Dlamini, Ambassador Loi put forward several recommendations to further expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation at the time when both sides are taking strong measures to revive the pandemic-stricken economy.

Deputy Minister Candith Mashego-Dlamini, for her part, proposed during the fifth meeting of the Vietnam – South Africa Partnership Forum, the two countries should focus on discussing specific measures and initiatives to deepen the bilateral ties, and expand and diversify the bilateral relations in agriculture, trade of agricultural and mining products, fishery, automobile supporting industries, tourism, education and others.

To prepare for the upcoming trade promotion activities and business seminars that take place when both countries are fully open and economic activities return to normal, South African Honorary Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and the General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on trade promotion, especially in agriculture.

The MoU is expected to create more opportunities for businesses of the two countries to further their cooperation in the field of agriculture.

Accordingly, the council will coordinate with the Consulate of South Africa to organize trade promotion programs, business seminars and field trips so that businesses of both sides have more channels to access the markets and more importantly, find reputable and capable partners in import and export activities

Do Lien - Honorary Consul said that: “In the current context that the COVID-19 pandemic has been under control, I believe this is the time for businesses of the two countries to strongly promote trading, especially in agricultural products. No matter how developed the economy, agriculture still plays an important role related to the survival of a country. The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the importance of food security and the special role of the agricultural sector, local and global agricultural supply chains. The recovery of economic strength of countries in the post-COVID-19 period depends largely on the development of the agricultural sector.”

Nguyen Duc Quang, Vice Chairman of the General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development Vietnam, said that the council, with its thousands of members, including many large-scale agricultural enterprises, will become good business partners in trade promotion activities, thereby, exploiting the maximum potential of agricultural enterprises of the two countries.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1993, trade relations between Vietnam and South Africa have been constantly developing. Statistics from both countries show that the two-way trade reached nearly 1.3 billion USD in 2021 despite COVID-19 impacts. Vietnam’s exports to South Africa totalled 847 million USD last year, up 24.3 percent against 2020, while imports were valued at 426.5 million USD, down 40 percent year-on-year.