Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh has paid visits to Botswana , Namibia and Ethiopia to promote and expand cooperation between Vietnam and the African countries.

During his visit from April 11-20, the Deputy FM had working sessions with the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Foreign Minister, and the Ministers of Agriculture and Information Technology and Communication of Ethiopia, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Botswana and Namibia.

He also met with leaders of industry, health and fisheries ministries and visited production establishments in each African country.

Botswana Foreign Minister P. Skelemani expressed his pleasure to welcome the first Vietnamese delegation to visit Botswana since the two countries established diplomatic ties in February, 2009.

The two sides need to set up cooperative ties between ministries, agencies and businesses in order to support each other for common development, the Botswana FM said.

Ministries and agencies of Botswana are interested in gaining experience and studying the Vietnamese projects carried out in other African countries, he said, adding that he hopes Vietnamese firms will invest in joint production ventures in his country and establish cooperative ties in health care, pharmaceuticals and trade.

Namibian leaders meanwhile, expressed their pleasure at developments of the two countries’ fraternal relationship and highly valued Vietnamese experts’ contributions to cooperative projects in aquaculture and rice cultivation.

They said they want the two countries’ ministries and agencies to increase meetings, discuss plans, expand cooperative models and consider the possibility of implementing new projects in agriculture, oil and gas, health care, apparel and construction in future.

In Ethiopia , Deputy Prime Minister-cum Foreign Minister H. Dessalegn spoke highly of the Vietnamese delegation’s visit, particularly both sides’ discussion and specific proposals for cooperation in trade and investment.

The two sides agreed that relevant ministries and agencies need to accelerate discussions and advance to signing agreements, creating legal frameworks for implementing cooperative projects, especially in agriculture, health care, construction and communication services.-VNA