PM: Vietnam treasures relations with South Africa

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and South African Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula (Photo: VNA)

PM Phuc said Vietnam highly values South Africa’s role in regional and global issues as well as at international organisations such as the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, G20 and group of five major emerging national economies BRICS. 

He told his guest that Vietnam has launched a project on developing  ties with Middle East and African countries for the 2016 – 2025 period, in which South Africa is considered its leading partner in Africa. 

The PM spoke highly of the maintenance of Vietnam-South Africa defence policy dialogue, which, he said, has contributing to the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. 

Praising the outcomes of the earlier talks between the two defence ministries, PM Phuc affirmed that the Vietnamese government will create favourable conditions for the development of bilateral defence relations, thereby promoting the Vietnam-South Africa partnership for cooperation and development. 

Mapisa-Nqakula, for her part, said South Africa is now in the process of reform, expressing her hope that the delegation will learn from Vietnam’s socio-economic development experience during the visit. 

Having informed the PM about the outcomes of her talks with Vietnamese Minister of National Defence Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich, she said both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in potential fields, especially in counter-terrorism and the United Nations peacekeeping mission. 

The South African side shared its experience in building army medical and engineer corps forces. 

The two sides explored the possibility of providing mutual support in the UN peacekeeping mission, especially in South Sudan and several African nations, and discussed ways to promote collaboration in defence industry and technology transfer, the minister aded.-VNA