Hanoi (VNA) - State President Luong Cuong's freshly-ended visits to Egypt and Angola not only reaffirmed Vietnam’s enduring solidarity with its long-standing African partners, but also helped advance its comprehensive cooperation with regional countries across key areas, particularly in market and partner diversi♒fication in support of the country’s broader development goals, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.

Speaking about the visits’ outcomes, Son said that they were the first state-level visits by a key Vietnamese leader to Egypt in seven years and to Angola in 17 years. The visits reflected the elevated position of Vietnam’s foreign policy in the new era—aimed at not only advancing ties with key regional partners like Egypt and Angola but also delivering a strategic message about Vietnam’s commitment to deepening relations with African nations as a whole. Africa remains home to many of Vietnam’s traditional friends. The 55 member states of the African Union represent over a quarter of the United Nations’ total membership. Both Egypt and Angola hold important roles in the region - Egypt as the host of the Arab League headquarters, and Angola as the current Chair of the African Union, Son noted. He said that these visits took place amid profound and epochal global shifts, as Party General Secretary To Lam has noted. The growing influence and voice of developing nations are being increasingly recognised. Against this backdrop, President Cuong’s visits underlined Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation, and diversification, while also reflecting the current global trend of deepening South–South cooperation to help shape a more multipolar, just, and equitable world order. Regarding key outcomes and highlights of the visits, Son affirmed that President Cuong’s visits to Egypt and Angola were highly successful, achieving all set objectives. In both countries, the State leader conducted a robust and productive programme, including important talks with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt and President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola, and meetings with other senior leaders. He also attended a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of Vietnam–Angola diplomatic relations. Notably, he made an official visit to the Arab League for the first time, delivering key policy addresses both at the League and during a special plenary session of the Angolan National Assembly. These speeches emphasised Vietnam’s strong desire to elevate its friendship and cooperation with Egypt, Angola, the Arab League, and African nations, positioning Vietnam as a bridge for peace, cooperation, and development between Asia and Africa. In addition to official activities, President Cuong also held working sessions with Vietnamese ambassadors in Africa, met with embassy staff and Vietnamese communities in Egypt and Angola, and provided guidance on enhancing relations with this increasingly important continent. Meanwhile, ministers and senior officials joining the delegation held a series of productive meetings with Egyptian and Angolan counterparts and businesses. Throughout the visits, both host countries extended warm, respectful, and heartfelt receptions to President Cuong, his spouse, and the Vietnamese delegation, reflecting their high regard for their relations with Vietnam. In many of the meetings, counterparts expressed deep admiration for President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam’s struggle for independence, seeing the country as both an inspiration and a successful development model for emerging nations, including Egypt and Angola. Son emphasised that the visits produced tangible and meaningful results. One of the most significant achievements was the establishment of new frameworks for Vietnam's relations with African countries, he underlined. Vietnam and Egypt officially elevated their ties to a comprehensive partnership, marking Vietnam’s first such partnership with an African nation. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Angola agreed to pursue a “cooperation partnership for common development” model, which is intended to serve as a standard for South–South collaboration, serving both countries’ development goals and mutual interests. Alongside two Joint Statements with Egypt and Angola, a series of important cooperation documents were signed in such fields as economy, trade, investment; defence and security; peacekeeping; judiciary and penal transfers; prosecution; television broadcasting; agriculture; and locality-to-locality cooperation.

These agreements lay a solid foundation for continued progress in Vietnam’s relations with Egypt and Angola in the years ahead, the official underscored. Moreover, the visits significantly enhanced opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to access new markets and fostered investment cooperation, particularly in promising sectors. Both Egypt and Angola welcomed and pledged to facilitate the entry of Vietnam’s key export products, while also creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest and operate locally. In particular, Egypt expressed its interest in developing Halal industry cooperation with Vietnam, while Angola showed support for Vietnamese firms to participate in major oil and gas projects and provide technical services in this field. Both countries agreed to upgrade their bilateral trade volume with Vietnam to 1 billion USD. Egypt, moreover, voiced readiness to expedite discussions on launching free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Vietnam and supported the establishment of a Vietnam – Egypt business council. The President also used the occasion to convey Vietnam’s key foreign policy messages to African and Arab nations. He delivered significant policy speeches at the headquarters of the Arab League and before Angola’s National Assembly, highlighting Vietnam’s growing role, position, and international outlook in the new era. The speeches reflected Vietnam’s desire to forge a new chapter of multi-faceted partnerships with African and Arab countries, for peace, cooperation, and development. At a time of growing global complexity, this message reinforced the close, trusted bonds between Vietnam and its African and Arab partners. It also helped promote stronger multilateral coordination and mutual support at global forums such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement. Vietnam also affirmed its commitment to fostering stronger ties between ASEAN and the Arab League and the African Union. Deputy PM Son went on underscoring the importance of following through on the commitments made during the visits. He said Vietnam must work closely with Egypt and Angola to concretise the outcomes, with priority given to drafting an action plan for the implementation of the comprehensive partnership framework between Vietnam and Egypt. Vietnam and Egypt also agreed to convene a session of their intergovernmental committee this year to operationalise agreements reached during the visit. Son noted beyond that, Vietnam needs to launch new cooperation mechanisms and optimise the effectiveness of existing ones. It aims to capitalise on the momentum in its relations with African nations to promote delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level ones through Party, State, Government, and parliamentary channels, as well as people-to-people exchange. Vietnam also plans to boost the implementation of its current cooperation frameworks with each country, including joint committees, political consultations between foreign ministries, and business and trade promotion initiatives. Expanding cultural, educational, and people-to-people exchanges will help further reinforce traditional friendship and solidarity. The Deputy PM also highlighted the necessity to strengthen coordination between the Government, businesses, and the public, as well as between central and local authorities, in realising the agreements signed. For Egypt, Vietnam seeks to maximise collaboration in Halal industry development, tourism, textiles, and education, particularly through Egypt’s commitment to increase scholarships for Vietnamese students. With Angola, priority will be given to advancing energy, mining, agriculture, and banking cooperation. Vietnam also intends to continue dispatching Vietnamese experts in education, healthcare, and vocational training to Angola, while expanding defence and security ties. He recommended Vietnamese ministries, agencies, localities, and enterprises work proactively with their Egyptian and Angolan counterparts to review and resolve outstanding challenges in economic cooperation, further open markets for each other’s goods and farm produce, and move towards the target of raising bilateral trade to 1 billion USD with each country. Efforts should also be made to advance the signing of an FTA or bilateral trade agreement with Egypt in the near future./.