Algiers (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Algerian counterpart Sifi Ghrieb agreed to elevate Vietnam – Algeria relations to a strategic partnership during their talks in Algiers on the morning of November 19 (local time), as part of the Vietnamese leader’s official visit to the African country.
At the talks, the two PMs expressed deep pride in the two nations’ shared history of struggle for independence, which served as an inspiration for revolutionary movements worldwide and laid a foundation for today’s bilateral relationship.
PM Ghrieb voiced satisfaction at the strong progress in various areas of cooperation, reflecting the aspirations of the leaders and people of both countries. Algeria stands ready to create the most favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises and act as a gateway for expanding Vietnam’s economic engagement with Africa, he affirmed.
He underscored the Algerian Government’s determination, under the guidance of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to maintain and further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two countries.
For his part, PM Chinh emphasised that Vietnam attaches great importance to its traditional friendship as well as close, brotherly solidarity with Algeria.
In this spirit, the two sides agreed to upgrade the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, affirming their commitments to enhancing all-level and high-level delegation exchanges in a bid to strengthen political foundation and mutual understanding, while expanding cooperation in a wide range of fields through existing mechanisms.
PM Chinh proposed further consolidating political trust, increasing delegation exchanges and prioritising each other in their respective foreign policies. He called on Algeria to continue supporting the Vietnam National Industry – Energy Group (Petrovietnam) in expanding its investment, ensuring stable and effective operations that contribute to Algeria’s development and stand as a symbol of bilateral cooperation.
He also urged both sides to foster investment cooperation, open markets for each other’s key products and boost two-way trade on the basis of balanced benefits. This includes Algeria facilitating Vietnamese enterprises’ participation in digital transformation projects and cooperation between the two countries’ businesses in telecommunications.
The Vietnamese leader highlighted defence and security cooperation as a new pillar of the bilateral ties, encouraging participation in each other’s defence exhibitions and collaboration on cyber-security. PM Chinh proposed stronger agricultural cooperation as well as more cultural and educational exchanges to honour past generations and deepen mutual understanding, particularly among young people. He also requested favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Algeria.
PM Chinh suggested establishing specialised sub-committees on science-technology, digital transformation, healthcare, education and labour, and urged the two sides to support joint work between their enterprises through concrete, practical and effective projects. He called on Algeria to back Vietnam in strengthening ties with regional organisations and their member states such as the African Union (AU) and the Arab League (AL).
The two sides agreed to continue coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums of which both nations are members, particularly the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as to work together to advance South-South cooperation, raise the profile of developing countries and promote their collaboration in science-technology, digital transformation and emerging development fields.
PM Chinh stated that Vietnam is ready to join international efforts to maintain peace, in the spirit of international solidarity, respect for the rule of law, and adherence to the fundamental principles of the UN Charter.
On the East Sea issue, PM Chinh asked Algeria to support ASEAN’s stance, and to back freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, on the basis of respecting the legitimate interests of coastal states in line with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
On this occasion, he invited his Algerian counterpart to pay an official visit to Vietnam. The Algerian leader concurred with PM Chinh’s proposals and committed to directing relevant local agencies to work closely with Vietnam to implement the agreed orientations effectively.
Immediately after the talks, the two PMs adopted a joint statement on upgrading the bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership. They also witnessed the signing of six cooperation documents, including the minutes of the meeting of the joint committee for economic, scientific and technical cooperation; a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on housing, urban and city planning; an addendum to a protocol on overall debt settlement between the two governments; and an agreement on educational cooperation. In addition, there were an MoU between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its Algerian counterpart; and a letter of intent between Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Algeria’s Ministry of Trade and Export Promotion on initiating negotiations for a pilot preferential trade agreement./.
