Ambassador Hoang Van Loi presented the Parkdene High School and the Tabatha Primary School in George each with 200,000 medical masks donated by the Vietnamese community in South Africa.(Photo: baoquocte.vn) The trip was organised by South Africa’s Department ofInternational Relations and Cooperation.
Ambassador Loi used the occasion to learn about investment opportunitiesand experience in socio-economic development and tourism in seven districts ofthe GRDM.
GRDM Mayor Memory Booysen said the Garden Route is awell-known site to both domestic and international tourists, adding that tourism, agriculture, trade and finance contribute more than 60 percent ofthe region's added value.
Briefing the mayor and other local leaders on Vietnam’spolitico-socio-economic achievements, Loi stressed that the fine political tiesand potential and strength of each country have created favourable conditionsfor the two countries to boost their economic, trade, investment and tourismlinks in the time ahead.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade hascontinuously increased, reaching nearly 1.4 billion USD last year, according tothe ambassador.
Both sides are working to prepare for the fifthVietnam-South Africa Inter-Governmental Partnership Forum, which is expected tocreate new momentum for the multi-faceted cooperation, both bilateral andmultilateral.
On this occasion, the ambassador presented the ParkdeneHigh School and the Tabatha Primary School in George each with 200,000 medicalmasks donated by the Vietnamese community in South Africa.
South African Deputy Minister of InternationalRelations and Cooperation Alvin Botes spoke highly of contributions by theVietnamese Embassy to the success of the working trip, which also saw the participationof the ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK).
He said the gifts from the Vietnamese Embassy are meaningful to localstudents and help the schools implement the South African Government’s mandatorymask wearing rules at public places in the COVID-19 combat.
In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency(VNA), the Deputy Minister affirmed that South Africa attaches importance topromoting relations with countries in the southern hemisphere, including Vietnam– a special friend of South Africa.
Reiterating late President Nelson Mandela’s statement that“Vietnam is a trustworthy partner of South African people”, he saidstrengthening the bilateral relations across spheres is the consistent policyof the South African Government./.
VNA
