The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Vietnam-AfricaFriendship Association (VAFA) held a ceremony in Hanoi on April 29 tocelebrate the 20 th Freedom Day of South Africa (April 27).
Addressing the event, VAFA Vice President Do Duc Dinh congratulatedthe South African people on the great achievements reached over the pasttwo decades.
According to Dinh, since theirdiplomatic ties were established on December 22, 1993, Vietnam and SouthAfrica have enjoyed strong development in bilateral relations,particularly in politics, economics, culture, education and defence.
The two sides regularly exchange high-level visits,demonstrated by the South Africa visit of Prime Minister Phan Van Khaiin November 2004 and South African President Thabo Mbeki’s tour ofVietnam in May 2007.
Their two-way trade has seen constant improvement from 154 million USD in 2006 to 920 million USD last year.
South African Ambassador to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau affirmed hercountry’s commitment to tightening its partnership with Vietnam.
Both sides expressed their belief that the two countries will gaingreater achievements in their bilateral ties, in the basic interests oftheir peoples, and for peace and stability in the region and theworld.-VNA