Vietnam and Uganda would continue to expand their bilateral cooperation in high-potential fields, including education training, information and communications, defense-security, healthcare, IT, tourism, oil production, and vaccine development.

Overview of the meeting. Source: VNA

The view was shared during a meeting between Vietnam’s State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who is currently on a state visit in Vietnam from November 23-25.

At the meeting, Phuc welcomed the Ugandan President and the high-ranking delegation to Vietnam, the first Ugandan leader to visit the country since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973.

Phuc highlighted Uganda's achievements in socioeconomic development, the maintenance of political stability, and the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic and Ebola outbreak, which have contributed to enhancing the country's status in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese President expressed his wish for the African country to successfully realize the Uganda Vision 2040, turning the country from an agricultural society to a modern and prosperous one.

For his part, Ugandan President Museveni revealed his admiration for Vietnam's heroic history of struggle for national independence and the socio-economic achievements attained today.

Museveni congratulated Vietnam on successfully serving as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 period and being elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 period.

He expected Vietnam to continue contributing to the UN’s efforts to maintain peace, security, and prosperity worldwide.

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

At the meeting, both leaders welcomed the substantial progress in bilateral relations. In 2021, Vietnam-Uganda’s trade turnover rose nearly 40% to $14.3 million, while Vietnam has committed nearly $40 million in investment projects in Uganda, concentrating on mining activities.

The two leaders stressed the significance for both sides to further boost the partnership, including high-ranking exchanges to foster political trust for deeper economic cooperation.

Vietnam and Uganda agreed to continue to support each other in the multilateral framework, especially at the UN and in the Non-Aligned Movement, and to open the door to strengthen cooperation with regional bodies, such as the East African Community (EAC) and ASEAN.

Phuc and Museveni expected further economic cooperation to reflect the strong political relations and the prominent market of a combined 150 million people.

Phuc called for Uganda to create favorable conditions for trade between the two countries, especially cotton, wood from Uganda, and food, garment, textile, construction materials, and transport vehicles from Vietnam.

In addition, agricultural cooperation continues to be a key priority in bilateral cooperation to ensure national food security in each country.

Vietnam and Uganda are scheduled to push for signing agreements on investment facilitation and protection, tax cooperation, and other fields to support the greater economic partnership.

Following the meeting, both leaders witnessed the signing of an agreement to waive the visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and official passports and a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in foreign affairs, education, information and communications, and agricultural techniques.