Vietnam, South Africa pledge to elevate parliamentary cooperation, connect Asia-Africa gateways
Just as South Africa serves as a gateway for Vietnam to access the African market, Vietnam can also serve as a bridge for South Africa to reach Asian countries.
Pretoria (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) Vice President Nguyen Hong Dien held talks with Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of South Africa Annelie Lotriet in Cape Town on October 1, as part of his official visit to the African country.
Dien expressed his pleasure at leading a high-level NA delegation to Cape Town, South Africa’s legislative capital, and conveyed NA President Tran Thanh Man’s greetings and invitation to South African Parliament Speaker Thoko Didiza to visit Vietnam.
Highlighting the traditional solidarity and mutual support between the two peoples, he said that his visit aims to advance cooperation following the elevation of bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership in November 2025.
Lotriet described the trip as important in opening new avenues for parliamentary cooperation and creating fresh momentum for broader bilateral ties. She expressed her strong affection for Vietnam and called for closer coordination in developing effective cooperation orientations and strategies.
Dien briefed his counterpart on Vietnam’s socio-economic development, saying that after 40 years of Doi moi (Renewal), the country has made major historic achievements, with its economy exceeding 515 billion USD and maintaining a strong growth of 8.18% in the first six months of 2026.
He said Vietnam is entering a new development phase featuring comprehensive institutional reforms, stronger implementation capacity and greater reliance on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition and the circular economy. The country aims to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030 and a developed, high-income country by 2045.
The two sides agreed to make parliamentary cooperation an important pillar of bilateral relations, focusing on high-level and committee-level delegation exchanges, early signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two legislatures, and close coordination at international and multilateral parliamentary forums.
Vietnam proposed the South African Parliament encourage the government to facilitate greater market access for Vietnamese goods and create favourable conditions for major Vietnamese enterprises to invest and cooperate in promising sectors such as electronics, telecommunications, minerals, renewable energy, textiles and supporting industries, as well as emerging fields including artificial intelligence (AI) and innovation.
Dien expressed his hope that the South African side will continue supporting and creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in South Africa to live and work stably and serve as a bridge of friendship between the two peoples.
He also took this occasion to invite the Parliament Deputy Speaker to pay an official visit to Vietnam at an early date. The latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.
In an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents in South Africa, Lotriet highlighted Vietnam’s role as a strategic gateway for her country to enter the Asian market. She said the two parliaments have significant potential for sharing knowledge and expertise and agreed to strengthen cooperation in legislative work, particularly in developing legal frameworks for the digital era.
She also stressed the importance of mutual support at multilateral forums, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and highlighted the complementary nature of the two countries’ regional integration strategies.
Just as South Africa serves as a gateway for Vietnam to access the African market, Vietnam can also serve as a bridge for South Africa to reach Asian countries, she said, expressing confidence that this strategic linkage will continue to expand and bring practical benefits to both countries./.
