Prime Minister of Tanzania Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa on July 12 expressed his belief that the ongoing visit by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung will mark a new important milestone and create a driving force for bilateral ties in diverse areas, especially in economy.

Prime Minister of Tanzania Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa (R) and
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung (Photo: VNA)

During a reception for the Vietnamese Deputy PM, both sides agreed to foster close political ties via all-level visits, facilitate locality-to-locality connectivity, and work closely together at the United Nations and other international forums. 

In order to boost two-way trade, Majaliwa wished that Vietnamese firms would buy more Tanzanian farm produce such as cashew nuts, cotton and coffee, and stand ready to work with Tanzanian investors across agriculture, aquaculture, tourism and telecommunications. 

He stressed that both nations need to open direct flights soon, firstly one linking Ho Chi Minh City and Dar Es Salaam to save travelling costs. 

The two sides vowed to expand collaboration in apparel, farming machinery, electronics, automobiles and motorbikes, which are of Vietnam’s strength. 

Vietnam is ready to serve as a bridge for Tanzanian goods to enter ASEAN and wants Tanzania to make it easier for Vietnamese goods to navigate the country and other Eastern African nations, Dung said. 

Both sides asked relevant ministries and agencies to step up negotiations towards signing agreements, thus laying a legal foundation for bilateral collaboration. 

The Vietnamese official asked Tanzanian agencies to create favourable conditions for Halotel, a venture of Vietnam’s military-run telecom service provider Viettel, to upgrade technical infrastructure, and facilitate the two countries’ workers to work at Halotel. 

The host wished that Vietnam would directly invest or form joint-ventures with Tanzania in rice farming and aquaculture. 

The two sides defined agriculture and telecommunications as key cooperation areas and promised to hold the second meeting of the Vietnam – Tanzania Joint Commission soon.