Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Salvador Lamothe will pay an official visit to Vietnam from December 16-18 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Measures to boost friendship and cooperation between the two countries, especially in economics, trade, investment, agriculture, telecommunications, construction and health, as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern, are expected to be discussed during Lamothe’s visit.

Vietnam and Haiti established diplomatic ties on September 26, 1997.

Owing to Haiti ’s political, security and economic situation, as well as its long geological distance from Vietnam , bilateral relations between both countries have yet to match their potential.

Two-way trade reached 11 million USD in 2010 and 40 million USD in 2011, of which Vietnam ’s exports accounted for 15 million USD.

The bilateral trade was already at 19 million USD by the end of the first half of 2012 .

Vietnam imports mainly clothing material, pulp and animal feed from Haiti . It exports garments, rattan, timber and wooden products, instant noodles, chemical substances and plastic products to Haiti .

In 2010, the army-run Viettel telecommunications group partnered with Haiti ’s Teleco S.A to set up NATCOM S.A.

The joint-venture, which Viettel contributed 60 percent of the 100 million USD investment, began operation on September 7, 2011. By September, 2012, NATCOM possessed 20 percent of Haiti’s mobile phone market. Around 220 Vietnamese people are living and working in Haiti .

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook Haiti. It killed 300,000 people and left 3 million others homeless. Former President Nguyen Minh Triet and former Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem extended condolences to Haiti ’s leaders. The Vietnamese Government donated 150,000 USD to help Haiti.-VNA