(VOVworld) – Congo’s Foreign Minister Basile Ikou Ebe has said that Congo recognizes Vietnam’s full market economy status.

During talks with Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on Tuesday, the two foreign ministers agreed that friendship and cooperation in regional and global forums were a solid political foundation to boost bilateral cooperation in the coming years. Foreign Minister Ebe said he hoped President Denis Sassou N’guesso will visit Vietnam and that a meeting of the inter-governmental committee would be held next year. He also hoped that negotiations on important cooperation agreements in the areas of healthcare, education, agro-forestry, and oil and gas would begin next year. Minister Pham Binh Minh confirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to boosting cooperation with African countries and with Congo in particular.