(VOVworld) - The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is willing to help Vietnam enhance trade, investment cooperation and connectivity with Africa’s developing countries, particularly in food security and agriculture, said UNCTAD Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi. He pledged that the UNCTAD will promote the Vietnam-Africa relationship within the framework of South-South cooperation, a model designed for developing countries in the southern hemisphere, at a reception hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Mr. Minh said he hopes UNCTAD will continue to support Vietnam in broader and comprehensive integration and development. He said Vietnam is working to reform and escape the “middle-income trap” with opportunities and challenges stemming from new-generation free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement. He called on UNCTAD to bridge Vietnam and other developing nations like those in Africa, through the tri-party cooperation model, while hailing UNCTAD’s reliable technical assistance to Vietnam in trade and foreign investment.

Briefing his guest on a number of projects invested by Vietnamese businesses in Africa, such as the military-run telecom group Viettel, Minh proposed the UNCTAD encourage enterprises from developing countries like Vietnam to access the African market and expand their operation in the region.