Vietnamese, Mozambican top legislators hold talks

National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and visiting President of the Assembly of Mozambique Republic Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias on Monday sign the cooperation memorandum between the two parliaments. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam attaches special importance to the traditional cooperation and friendship with Mozambique, one of the five African countries that Việt Nam prioritises to promote political, diplomatic and economic ties, National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ has said.

He made the remark while holding talks with the President of the Mozambican Assembly, Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias, and the Mozambican delegation, at the welcome ceremony in Hà Nội on Monday.

Huệ spoke highly of the important political significance of the first visit to Việt Nam by the President of the Assembly of Mozambique, adding that the visit would consolidate and develop the multifaceted cooperation and traditional relationship between the two countries.

President of the Assembly of Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias thanked Việt Nam for supporting Mozambique as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the term 2022-2024 and for presenting medical masks to Mozambique during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the visit would also promote the economic cooperation of the two countries in the fields of education, telecommunication and agriculture. During the visit, Mozambique would have the opportunity to meet with Vietnamese businesses and discuss Mozambique’s investment conditions.

It would be a chance for Mozambique to share experiences in coping with natural disasters with Việt Nam, she said.

For his part, NA Chairman Huệ expressed his delight at Mozambique’s political stability, economic reform, and social development as well as pandemic prevention over the past time under the leadership of President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi as well as the Frelimo, Renamo and MDM parties.

He said Việt Nam and Mozambique have long-standing traditional solidarity and friendship. Since the 1960s, the people of the two countries have built solidarity, friendship and mutual support in the cause of fighting against colonialism and independence in each country. Việt Nam was proud to have always contributed to the fight for national liberation and anti-racism in southern Africa.

He affirmed that Mozambique is one of the five African countries that Việt Nam priorities promoting political, diplomatic and economic relations and appreciates the role, position and contributions of Mozambique in the development process of the African region.  

The two leaders expressed their hope that the Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation between the two countries, which would be signed at the visit, would be an important legal basis for the two assemblies of the two countries to continuously strengthen and promote cooperation in the coming time.

In order to further deepen the good relationship between the two countries, Huệ suggested the two sides to further strengthen the exchange of delegations at all levels. He also reminded the organisation of the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the two countries, which was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Vietnamese leader expects the two sides will continue to work closely and actively support each other’s candidacy in international organisations, especially at the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN and African Union.

Regarding the direction of cooperation in the future, the two focused on a number of defence and security issues such as prevention and combat of terrorism, fighting against crimes, especially crimes of trading, transporting wildlife products, and training military and security cadres and trainees. Việt Nam asked Mozambique to ensure security and safety for the Vietnamese community living and doing business in Mozambique.

The two leaders emphasised that the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries remained modest, with only US$149.5 million in 2021. Therefore, the two sides needed to create incentives to create convenience for businesses to survey the market, participate in specialised trade fairs and international trade in each country, and support the increasing number of businesses to invest and do business in the two countries.

Huệ said Việt Nam was ready to import Mozambique products such as coal, LPG and common metals. He suggested Mozambique provide a list of reputable associations and businesses operating in these fields to facilitate the connection and import-export activities of enterprises of the two countries.

In return, Việt Nam asked Mozambique to facilitate the import from Vietnam goods such as rice, machinery, equipment and materials in agriculture and fisheries; medical equipment and supplies in service of pandemic prevention and control; electrical machinery; footwear; and textile products.

He also thanked the Assembly and the Government of Mozambique for creating favourable conditions for Movitel in the process of implementing the project in Mozambique, asking Mozambique leaders to continue to pay attention to Movitel’s activities to contribute to Mozambique’s economic development.

In terms of agriculture, Huệ noted the necessity of the implementation of the second phase of the joint research project on developing food crops in Mozambique.

The leader affirmed that Viêt Nam would continue to provide scholarships to Mozambique students, strengthen cooperation with medical experts and share experiences to develop public health care and traditional medicine.

Following the talks, the two leaders signed a cooperation memorandum between the National Assembly of Việt Nam and the Assembly of Mozambique.

As part of her official visit, the Mozambican leader and parliamentary delegation paid tribute to President Hồ Chí Minh at the late leader’s mausoleum in Hà Nội.

Also on Monday, Bias visited the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), where she expressed her wish to strengthen cooperative ties with the HCMA and expected that the academy would make recommendations to help Mozambique to further stabilise and develop. — VNS