The official visit to Vietnam from June 13-16 by President of Côte d’Ivoire's National Assembly Adama Bictogo will mark a new development for the two countries’ relations. (Photo: African News)

The official visit to Vietnam from June 13-16 by President of Côte d’Ivoire's National Assembly Adama Bictogo will mark a new development for the two countries’ relations.

The visit, made at an invitation of Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, is the first by a senior leader of the West African country to the Southeast Asian nation since the two set up their diplomatic ties 48 years ago.

Over the past years, the two sides have exchanged measures to deepen the relationship, especially through increasing contacts and exchanging delegations at all levels, and effectively implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

Vietnam and Côte d’Ivoire have regularly coordinated and supported each other at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.

They have also signed many cooperation documents such as a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two Foreign Ministries in May 2014, and an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders on April 18, 2017.

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President of National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire Adama Bictogo to visit Vietnam

Since 2015, bilateral trade has increased rapidly. Côte d’Ivoire is Vietnam's second largest trade partner in Africa and Vietnam's fourth largest export market in the continent with a turnover of 1.04 billion USD in 2022.

The Vietnamese community in Ivory Coast has about 300 people, of whom 50% are permanent residents. There are nearly 1,000 small traders trading cashew nuts between the two countries.

The first visit to Vietnam by the President of the Côte d’Ivoire NA to Vietnam is an opportunity to make bilateral parliamentary cooperation more effective and substantive, thus helping create momentum to expand bilateral cooperation in many other fields, especially in economics.

During his stay, Adama Bictogo is expected to have talks and meetings with Vietnamese leaders where they will evaluate measures to increase bilateral trade turnover to be commensurate with the great potential of each country in a more balanced direction, and discuss ways to improve the efficiency of signed agreements and promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries’ leaders will seek ways to facilitate the Vietnamese community in Ivory Coast, have specific guidelines and measures to protect legitimate rights and interests, and ensure a safe and secure environment for Vietnamese people living in the West African country.

Regarding parliamentary collaboration, the two sides will exchange views on how to further strengthen cooperation in parliamentary diplomacy, step up delegation exchanges, and share experience in organising related activities.