(VOVWORLD) -National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and his Ivory Coast counterpart Adama Bictogo on Wednesday held talks in Hanoi where Mr. Hue affirmed that Vietnam values cooperation with Africa.
 National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue shakes hands with his Ivory Coast counterpart Adama Bictogo. Photo: VOV |
Chairman Hue suggested that the two sides exchange measures to develop bilateral relationship and continue to strengthen coordination within the Francophonie International Organization (OIF), the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Both sides agreed that economic-trade cooperation is one of the pillars of their cooperation and pledged to create maximum facilitation for products that are strengths of each country to penetrate each other's markets.
Chairman Hue expressed Vietnam’s willingness to create favorable conditions for Ivory Coast businesses to invest and do business in Vietnam and encourage Vietnamese businesses to invest in Ivory Coast. Vietnam is ready to act as a bridge for Ivory Coast goods to penetrate Southeast Asian and Asian markets, Mr. Hue said.
The two leaders said that cooperation in agriculture is a priority area and expected the two sides to develop cashew nuts value chain cooperation, and exchange experts to share experiences in planting, tending, collecting, preserving and processing cashews.
NA Chairman Hue asked Ivory Coast to support the stance of ASEAN and Vietnam on ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea and settling disputes by peaceful means, on the basis of compliance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The two sides agreed to strengthen the contacts and exchange of delegations between the National Assembly leaders, agencies and deputies.
National Assembly President Adama Bictogo expected that Vietnam and Ivory Coast will open direct flights between the two countries. He asked Vietnam to help develop vocational training for young people in Ivory Coast, contributing to solving unemployment, especially in IT, mechanics and electronics.
After the talks, the two leaders signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two National Assemblies.
At a press conference to announce the results of the talks, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed that the two sides have shown their determination to do their best to make cooperation between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National Assembly of Ivory Coast one of the models of the Vietnamese National Assembly with African countries.
He said he believes that cooperation between the two National Assembly agencies will be a "catalyst" to contribute to the development of bilateral relations in a more comprehensive and substantive manner.
Talking to the press, National Assembly President Adama Bictogo emphasized that through his visit, Ivory Coast wishes to accelerate economic and trade relations between the two countries. Vietnam is one of the top 20 countries in the world in terms of attracting foreign investment and is a development model that Ivory Coast is particularly interested in. He invited Vietnamese businesses to invest in and cooperate with Africa.
Adama Bictogo affirmed that Vietnam is the "key" for Ivory Coast to strengthen ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Ivory Coast is ready to act as a bridge to help Vietnam strengthen its relationship with West Africa and Africa in general.