Viet Nam considers Tanzania priority partner in Africa: Deputy Prime Minister

Bui reiterated Viet Nam considers Tanzania a priority partner in Africa, suggesting that the two countries promote the exchange of all-level delegations, particularly those at high level across Party, State, and National Assembly channels, as well as people-to-people exchanges.

He urged Tanzania to consider opening embassy in Viet Nam to further strengthen political trust and open up a new phase of bilateral cooperation across various fields.

Bui urged the Tanzanian Government to continue supporting the Viettel Group and other Vietnamese firms to operate and join digital transformation, e-government, and online public services in Tanzania.

To create a favorable legal framework for businesses, he proposed that the two countries expedite the completion of negotiations on investment protection and double taxation avoidance agreements.

Bui also asked Tanzania to support ASEAN and Viet Nam's stance on settling disputes in the East Sea through peaceful means in line with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Kombo, in reply, said Tanzania has high expectations and hopes to continue expanding and diversifying its cooperation areas with Viet Nam, especially in areas where Tanzania could learn from Viet Nam's expertise such as industrialization, telecommunications, digital transformation, farm produce processing, post-harvest technologies, and mining.

With its strategic location in East Africa, Tanzania stands ready to serve as a gateway for Viet Nam to access large markets such as the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), he said.

He encouraged Vietnamese businesses to actively explore opportunities in Tanzania, consider increasing its import of goods that Tanzania has strengths and that Viet Nam has demand, such as cotton and minerals.

Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the progress in bilateral ties, with Halotel, a Viettel Group project in Tanzania, standing out as a success story. Tanzania is also emerging as a leading supplier of raw cashew nuts to Viet Nam, with the import turnover reaching over US$240 million in the first quarter of this year, surpassing the 2024 total.

They agreed to increase exchanges between ministries, agencies, localities, and businesses from both countries in new potential areas such as national defense, security, construction, human resource training, leadership, management, and experience sharing in the United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Both sides vowed to soon finalize the timing of the second meeting of the Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation to review cooperation, accelerate negotiations, and sign economic agreements, while actively preparing for high-ranking delegation exchanges in the near future.

Host and guest committed to mutual support at multilateral forums, especially within the United Nations framework, regional organizations such as the African Union (AU), the ASEAN, and the East African Community (EAC).

They pledged to discuss and coordinate stances on global issues for the benefit of their people, and for peace, stability, and cooperation in both regions/VNA./.