The Institute for Africa and Middle East Studies (IAMES) and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) held a conference on Nov. 11 about “Promoting Cooperation between Vietnam and Africa-The Middle East Post Covid-19 Pandemic.”

The speakers in the conferences included Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh, Vice Chairman of VASS, Pham Quang Hieu, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, President of VUFO, and Chekou Oussouman, regional representative of the Asia and Pacific office, the International Organization of the Francophonie.

“Vietnam, African and Middle Eastern countries need to enhance and exploit the opportunities, overcome the challenges of the pandemic, and minimize the negative effects of Covid-19 in the post-pandemic era,” said the President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) Nguyen Phuong Nga at the conference.

Delegates at the conference. Photo: Tuan Anh

Comprehensive cooperation

According to VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on countries around the world. Therefore, Vietnam, African, and Middle Eastern countries need to strengthen cooperation and promote sustainable development.

“Since the pandemic broke out in early 2020, Vietnam and African and Middle Eastern countries have continued to strengthen relations. Vietnam and African and the Middle Eastern countries have always had strong relations, no matter what the circumstances," said Nguyen Phuong Nga.

Cooperation in the field of politics and diplomacy includes diplomatic activities at the regional, international and embassy levels as well as activities of organizations and businesses.

VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga: "Vietnam - Africa cooperation enhances despite the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic." Photo: Tuan Anh

Vietnam officially proposed to establish relations with the African Union in July 2020 to deepen cooperation with African countries at the regional level. According to VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga, this is the foundation of the coordination mechanism at the regional level with AU. The cooperation between Vietnam and Africa has developed despite the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic since then.

In addition, Vietnam and African and Middle Eastern countries also actively support each other in the prevention of the Covid-19 epidemic. The countries share experiences in Covid-19 prevention, provide medical supplies, discuss the possibility of cooperation on vaccines and treatments for Covid-19.

Turning challenges into opportunities

Vietnam recorded growth in trade in 2021 after witnessing a slight decrease in 2020. Import and export turnover of Vietnam - Africa reached 3.98 billion USD in the first 6 months of 2021, up 30.5% for the same period in 2020, while import and export turnover between Vietnam and the Middle East reached nearly 7.3 billion USD, up 33.5% for the same period in 2020. This shows the strong cooperation between Vietnam and African and Middle Eastern countries despite difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Researchers, politicians, and diplomats at the Conference appreciated the strong relations between Vietnam and African and Middle Eastern countries as well as the potentials of the parties.

According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Hieu, Africa, and the Middle East are large markets with 1.6 billion people. The Middle East has high potential in fuel, finance, and technology while Africa is a source of raw materials.

Deputy Minister Pham Quang Hieu said that many countries in Africa and the Middle East had accelerated their economic diversification, reduced dependence on natural resources, promoted economic linkages, digital transformation, and green transformation.

This is a great opportunity for a dynamic economy with high potential like Vietnam.

However, the achievements in cooperation between Vietnam and African and Middle Eastern countries are not commensurate with the potential and growing needs of the parties, in terms of trade-investment, agriculture, science-technology, and tourism.Vietnam has become an important part of many regional and inter-regional economic trades such as The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, The European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga said, "Both sides lack information and in-depth understanding of each other's markets, business practices, and legal systems. The geographical distance is one of the main problems leading to business inefficiency and insufficient attention paid by the authorities and businesses."

"There are few diplomatic and trade organizations in the countries, and the cooperation for economic development needs to be improved”.

In addition, challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic continue to affect cooperation. However, the delegates also recognized certain advantages that promote the development of the countries.

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Vietnam Jamale Chouaibi. Photo: Tuan Anh

The related ministries, agencies and sectors will use knowledge and experience shared in the conference to enhance multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and the regional countries, promoting sustainable and comprehensive development in the future.Delegates at the conference also discussed solutions to promote cooperation between the countries after Covid-19 in the fields of trade, agriculture, tourism, labor and technology.

How Vietnamese Businesses Plan to Conquer Middle East Market Investment and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Middle Eastern countries has achieved many encouraging achievements. However, to conquer this potential market, in addition to capacity, ...

Vietnam, Middle East Seek New Approaches In Investment Cooperation A webinar themed “Fostering investment cooperation between Vietnam and the Middle East: potential, opportunities and new approaches” was held in Hanoi on August 26.

Vietnam News Today (August 26): Vietnam Promotes Multifaceted Cooperation with African Countries Vietnam News Today (August 26): Vietnam confirms 12,096 new Covid-19 cases; Vietnam promotes multifaceted cooperation with African countries;