Addis Ababa (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang met with EthiopianPrime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa on August 23 as part of his ongoingState visit to the African country.

The host expressed his belief that the visit will help enhance political trustand mutual understanding between the two countries as well as create animportant premise to bring the bilateral cooperation to a new level in apragmatic and effective manner for the aspirations and benefits of their people.

President Quang hailed efforts by the Ethiopian government and PM Abiy Ahmed inreforming the economy and building a peaceful and stable environment fordevelopment.

The two leaders agreed to further promote cooperation via increasing theexchange of Party, State, National Assembly and government delegations inaddition to people-to-people exchange.

Regarding economic cooperation, both Vietnam and Ethiopia boast huge populationof around 100 million people, large market, abundant source of labour, and highspeed of development.

The two sides will make better use of cooperation opportunities, promote tradeexchanges, and expand the list of high-quality goods with competitive priceswhile increasing information sharing and facilitating businesses’ investmentpromotion.

President Quang suggested Ethiopia enable Vietnamese firms, including thetelecom group Viettel, to seek investment cooperation opportunities in Ethiopiain telecommunications, trade, agriculture, aviation, and construction of smalland medium-sized hydropower plants.

As regards agriculture, the host and guest said Vietnam’s experience inagricultural cultivation could be applied in Ethiopia to help the countryensure food security and agricultural development.

PM Abiy Ahmed said 80 percent of the Ethiopian population relies on agriculturefor their livelihoods, so the country places a high premium on the sector.

Ethiopia highly values Vietnam’s agricultural experience and development,especially rice and coffee cultivation, he said, expressing his hope thatVietnam will assist his country in human resources training and shareexperience in agriculture, which is the main cooperation orientation in thecoming time.

The Vietnamese leader hailed the active role of Ethiopia as a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council in the 2017-2018 period as well as itscrucial role in Africa.

He proposed Ethiopia serve as a bridge to connect ASEAN and Vietnam inparticular with African countries and the African Alliance. 

He suggested the two countries enhance coordination, experience sharing, andmutual support at international forums and within the framework of the UnitedNations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the South-South cooperation as well as shareexperience in UN peacekeeping activities.

On the occasion, President Quang conveyed the invitation of Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc to the Ethiopian Prime Minister to visit Vietnam in anappropriate time.

Vietnam and Ethiopia established diplomatic ties in 1976.

They have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in cultureand another on collaboration in economy and science-technology, as well as acooperation deal between the Vietnamese and Ethiopian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry.

Bilateraltrade hit 11.3 million USD in 2017, of which Vietnam exported 2.2 million USDworth of goods, mainly garment-textiles, footwear, and chemical products.

In April2014, Ethiopia recognised Vietnam’s market economy status.-VNA