Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue held talks with NigerianVice President Yeni Osinbajo as part of the Vietnamese official’s working visitto the African country from Oct. 29-31.

During their talks on October 30, the two sides agreed to strengthen theexchange of delegations at all levels and through all channels, thus promotingmutual understanding.

Theydiscussed measures to practically promote trade, agreeing that it is necessaryto establish a legal framework favourable for cooperation activities, focusingon promoting the role of commercial committees as well as available mechanisms;enhancing the exchange of business delegations to share market information,trade policies and export-import related regulations of each country.

The Vietnamese side said the country wants to increase trade turnover withNigeria through exporting cashew nuts, rice, aquatic products, footwear andtextiles, and hopes to be supported by the Nigerian government.

Osinbajosaid his country wants to enhance cooperation with Vietnam in agriculture asNigeria is actively expanding agricultural production and promoting hi-tech applicationin the sector.

Nigeria is interested in the idea of opening a direct air route between the twocountries, he said, suggesting the two sides foster people-to-people exchangesand cooperation in culture, sports and tourism.  

The official affirmed that Nigeria is willing to support Vietnam to expand relationswith member nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union(AU), and proposed Vietnam serve as a bridge to help Nigeria connect with otherASEAN nations.

After their talks, the Vietnamese and Nigerian officials witnessed the signingof a visa exemption agreement for diplomatic passport holders,which aims to facilitate delegation exchanges between the two countries,contributing to fostering bilateral cooperation.

Deputy PM Hue took the occasion to convey the invitation of VietnameseParty General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong to Nigerian PresidentMuhammadu Buhari to visit Vietnam.

On the same day, he also met with Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria Idris Wase and President of the ECOWAS Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, during which they highlighted the increasing bilateralrelations.

Huesaid that relations with Nigeria in particular, and with other African countriesin general, were an important part of Vietnam’s diplomatic policy.

Meanwhile,Wase spoke highly of the potential and cooperation achievements between the twocountries, especially in economics and trade, affirming that the Nigerianparliament wants to promote cooperation with Vietnam and hopes the two sides willsign more agreements to create an impetus for their trade links.

For his part, Kassi Brou praised Vietnam’s socio-economicachievements and integration, while congratulating the country on winning aseat in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent memberfor 2020-2021, hoping that Vietnam will continue its active contributions tosecurity issues in the region and the world.

Huestressed that Vietnam always attaches importance to multi-faceted cooperationwith traditional African friends, stressing the need for countries in WestAfrica and Vietnam to bolster cooperation and support each other to make their voicebetter heard and raise their role at multilateral cooperation mechanisms suchas the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement and the South-South cooperation mechanism./.