Johannesburg (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with leaders of countries and international organisations on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 22.
Meeting Canadian PM Mark Carney again, PM Chinh highly appreciated the positive development in the relationship between the two countries in recent times in all fields, thus creating favourable conditions to promote more substantive and effective cooperation in the coming time.
PM Chinh expressed his desire to make economic, trade, investment, and scientific and technological cooperation an important pillar in the bilateral relationship, in order to effectively exploit the complementarity between the two economies and the advantage of being members of the CPTPP Agreement. He proposed Canada open its market to Vietnamese goods, promote investment and connect the supply chain in a sustainable and mutually beneficial manner.
PM Carney affirmed that Canada always considers Vietnam an important partner in the Indo-Pacific region. He agreed with PM Chinh’s cooperation proposals and proposed close coordination to promote the agreed cooperation contents, developing the Vietnam - Canada Comprehensive Partnership more and more substantially, towards new heights.
On this occasion, PM Chinh respectfully invited PM Carney to visit Vietnam soon, and the Canadian leader happily accepted the invitation.
Meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço, Chair of the African Union (AU) 2025, PM Chinh respectfully conveyed the greetings of Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong and other Vietnamese leaders to the President.
He affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to traditional and friendly relations and wants to strengthen cooperation with African countries, including Angola, especially in the fields of agriculture and trade, in which the two sides need to promote the export of key products to each other in the context of fierce trade competition today.
As an AU Observer (from December 2023), Vietnam is ready to continue to make more practical contributions to the AU Agenda 2063, and hopes that Angola will support the promotion of FTA negotiations between Vietnam and the African Continental Free Trade Area, PM Chinh said.
Regarding bilateral relations, the two leaders expressed their delight at the successful visit to Angola by State President Luong Cuong in August 2025, and the two countries have determined the orientation of building a "cooperative partnership for mutual development" between Vietnam and Angola to become a model for South-South cooperation.
President Lourenço thanked the sincere sentiments of the Government and people of Vietnam, affirming his consistent support for Vietnam in strengthening relations with the AU and African countries, including Angola.
The Angolan President welcomed and pledged to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses interested in investing in Angola, especially in the fields of agriculture, telecommunications, and energy. He hoped that Vietnam would soon send an inter-sectoral delegation and businesses to visit Angola to promote specific cooperation projects based on the orientations and commitments of the two countries' senior leaders.
On this occasion, PM Chinh conveyed the invitation of Party General Secretary To Lam and State President Luong Cuong to the Angolan President to soon visit Vietnam. The Angolan President accepted the invitation with pleasure.
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Receiving Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, PM Chinh recalled his deep impressions of his visit to Saudi Arabia in 2024, affirming that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing the friendship and cooperation with Saudi Arabia more comprehensively and substantially.
He conveyed the regards and invitations of Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong and senior leaders of Vietnam to the King and senior leaders of Saudi Arabia to soon visit Vietnam to develop bilateral relations to a new height.
The PM suggested both sides expand the market, facilitate bilateral trade, and promote the early launch of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries as well as the Vietnam - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) FTA.
PM Chinh also asked Saudi Arabia to increase investment in Vietnam's potential projects in the fields of strategic infrastructure, logistics, renewable energy, digital transformation, science and technology; support Vietnam in building an international financial centre in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang; and expand cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, defense, food security, and Halal industry.
Highly agreeing with PM Chinh’s proposals, the Saudi Arabian FM congratulated Vietnam on its economic growth in 2025 and said he was impressed with Vietnam's reform efforts. He affirmed that Saudi Arabia always attaches importance to developing comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam, the leading dynamic economy in Southeast Asia, saying that the room for cooperation between the two sides is still very large, especially in the current complex world context.
The Saudi Arabian FM said he supports the early negotiation and signing of an FTA between Vietnam and the GCC; and suggested Vietnam soon send a business delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss and promote investment cooperation projects.
On this occasion, the two sides also agreed to strengthen coordination and mutual support at multilateral and international forums, in which the Saudi Arabian FM highly appreciated Vietnam's objective and constructive stance on the Palestine issue.
Meeting Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed, the two leaders jointly assessed the results of the implementation of agreements and cooperation contents reached during PM Ahmed's visit to Vietnam in April 2025, affirming their determination to develop bilateral relations in an increasingly substantive and comprehensive manner.
PM Chinh welcomed the recent opening of a direct flight to Vietnam by Ethiopian Airlines after the visit. He suggested the two sides continue to promote the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially at the high level; expand markets, and facilitate bilateral trade, including immediately starting negotiations on basic agreements such as an Agreement on Double Taxation Avoidance and an Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection.
PM Ahmed expressed his great pleasure to meet PM Chinh again and thanked the respectful welcome and sincere sentiments that the PM and senior leaders of Vietnam had given him personally during his visit to Vietnam on the occasion of attending the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) Summit in April 2025. He affirmed his appreciation for Vietnam's economic growth rate, role and position in international issues and at multilateral forums.
The Ethiopian PM agreed with the proposals raised by PM Chinh, affirming that the Ethiopian Government will closely coordinate with Vietnamese partners to effectively implement the agreements reached between the two countries.
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Receiving Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, PM Chinh affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing traditional relations with African countries, including Zimbabwe.
The Vietnamese leader suggested the two sides increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially at the high level; expand import-export markets, and promote cooperation in potential areas such as agriculture, telecommunications, 5G, mineral exploitation, construction materials, textiles and footwear.
PM Chinh also proposed the two sides soon study and sign a bilateral trade agreement and an investment protection agreement, and hoped that Zimbabwe would support Vietnam in negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
Vice President Chiwenga expressed his admiration for Vietnam's history of fighting for national liberation and reunification, and its achievements in innovation, reform and development today, saying that this is a model that Zimbabwe wants to learn from.
He said that the Zimbabwean President has appointed a Special Envoy to promote investment cooperation from Vietnam, hoping that Vietnamese enterprises will invest in the fields of agriculture, mining and infrastructure. The Vice President emphasised that there is still a lot of room for cooperation between the two countries and hopes to soon send working delegations to Vietnam to learn about socio-economic development experiences and promote cooperation, especially in the fields of manufacturing industry, telecommunications, agriculture, minerals, and building a financial centre.
Receiving Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PM Chinh expressed his deep gratitude for WHO's care and support for Vietnam in recent times. He emphasised that during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the timely support of WHO and the Director-General himself, Vietnam had responded effectively and controlled the epidemic well.
The PM said that Vietnam is implementing many policies to ensure health care and improve people's health, always considering people's health as the top priority. Sharing the fact that Vietnam has recently suffered many historic storms and floods, causing huge losses in human lives and property, leading to the risk of post-flood epidemics, he hoped to continue receiving support from WHO in responding to and preventing epidemics arising from natural disasters.
Sharing with Vietnam, the WHO Director-General expressed his deep condolences for the losses caused by storms and floods. He thanked the Vietnamese Government for its strong commitments to the health sector and people's health care; and expressed his admiration for Vietnam's strong leadership and timely policies in COVID-19 prevention.
Regarding the risk of epidemics after storms and floods, Tedros said the WHO currently has an Emergency Response Fund and is ready to mobilise resources from this fund to support Vietnam in the earliest time.
The WHO Director-General affirmed that he will send experts and work immediately with the Vietnamese Mission in Geneva and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health to implement the content discussed with the PM./.
