Vietnam treasures friendship with Ivory Coast: Party official

Pretoria (VNA) – The Vietnamese Party and State consistently attach much importance to the friendship and all-round cooperation with African countries, including the Ivory Coast, Politburo member and Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Vo Van Thuong has said.

Meeting with Ivory Coast Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly on June 18 as part of the two-day visit to the African country, Thuong, who is also head of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, expressed his delight over the sound bilateral relations in the past time, with both nations backing each other at international forums, including the UN and the Francophonie Organisation.

He took the occasion to thank the Ivory Coast for supporting Vietnam when the later ran for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council during 2020-2021, and creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese people community in the host nation.

As Vietnam is currently the second largest trade partner of the Ivory Coast, Thuong suggested both sides bolster cooperation in the field through accelerating the signing of cooperation framework agreements, and negotiation and signing of various trade pacts.

Thuong also conveyed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s invitation to pay an official visit to Vietnam to Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

The Ivory Coast PM, for his part, said that his country chose Vietnam as a standard model for its socio-economic development strategy, and recommended further collaboration in cashew processing, describing Vietnam as the world’s best cashew processor while the Ivory Coast has largest yield of cashew (around 800,000 tonnes per year).

He affirmed the Ivory Coast, as an active member of the African Union (AU), will work to promote the AU-Vietnam ties. He also wished to receive Vietnam’s support so that the country can expand collaboration with the ASEAN bloc.

Earlier, in a meeting with President of the Ivory Coast National Assembly Amadou Soumahoro, Thuong rejoiced at the thriving parliamentary ties between the two countries, recommending both sides to bolster delegation exchanges at all levels.

In that spirit, he conveyed NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan’s visit invitation to the host, expressing his hope that the legislative bodies of both nations will promote friendship exchanges and experience sharing, as well as join hands to supervise the implementation of signed documents.

Besides, Thuong said the two parliaments should facilitate legal conditions to enhance cooperation in economy, trade and investment, and continue coordination at multilateral forums.

Speaking highly of the fruitful economic relations between Vietnam and the Ivory Coast, Amadou Soumahoro said that they hold great potential to further cooperation in the coming time.

Besides, bilateral collaboration should be expanded to industry, agriculture, construction, mining, culture and communications, he added.

On June 19, Thuong held talks with President of the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) Party Amada Bictogo, during which they laid stress on the importance of experience sharing and delegation exchange to deepen the relations between the RHDP and the CPV.

At the working session with the Ministry of Information and Communications, the two sides shared experience in press and media management, and reached consensus on enhancing cooperation through organising visits and working sessions between the two information and communications ministries.-VNA