Cameroon keen on broadening affiliation with Vietnam

Hanoi (VNA) – Cameroon Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella has affirmed that Cameroon hopes to bolster cooperation with Vietnam in trade, investment, agriculture, education, green energy, and telecommunications.

During talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Pham Binh Minh as part of his ongoing visit to Vietnam from December 27-30, Lejeune Mbella Mbella said that his country is willing to help bridge collaboration between Vietnam and members of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

He lauded the effectiveness of Vietnamese-invested projects in Cameroon, including a joint venture between the military telecommunications group Viettel and a local firm which he described as a symbol of successful affiliation between the two countries.

He proposed the increase of coordination among localities of the two countries, as well as the organization of trade promotion programmes and the exchange of training courses and scholarships.

The Cameroon Ministry of External Affairs will ask the President to approve the coverage of the country’s Ambassador to China over Vietnam and the appointment of a honourary ambassador of Vietnam in Cameroon, and create favourable conditions for the implementation of joint rice development projects in the form of public-private partnership.

Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh suggested the two foreign ministries work closely together to accelerate a Vietnam visit by the Cameroon President in 2018, and conclude negotiations for agreements on investment encouragement and protection and double-tax avoidance, and another deal on cooperation in industry and promoting Vietnam’s exports to Cameroon.

Minh asked the Cameroon side to back Vietnamese investors in the country.

Cameroon currently ranks the 12th out of 72 destinations of Vietnamese investors, with four projects totalling 270 million USD. Tow-way trade between the two sides has reached about 200 million USD, mostly from Vietnam’s imports of materials from Cameroon.

During his stay, the Cameroon Foreign Minister also paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and met Chairman of the President’s Office Dao Viet Trung to hand over a letter of Cameroon President Paul Biya to President Tran Dai Quang. He also held a meeting with Vietnamese firms investing in Cameroon.

On the occasion, the two countries signed a framework agreement in bilateral cooperation, another on visa exemption for those holding diplomatic and official passports, and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two Foreign Ministries.-VNA