Madagascar’s Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana welcomed President Tran Dai Quang
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Through the forum, Vietnam has promoted bilateral relations with a number of its member nations. With the successful organisation of the 7th Francophone Summit in 1997 in Hanoi, Vietnam made important contributions to institutionalising political activities and fostering links in economy, politics, culture, language, and education-training among the Francophone community’s member nations. Vietnam has actively and practically joined in almost all prioritized fields of the community, from outlining cooperation strategies, accelerating administrative and financial reforms and adjusting resources for education and development fields. The country is said to be one of key members of the community.
In recent years, the International Organisation of La Francophonie and relevant agencies have coordinated with a number of Francophone member countries to implement projects in Vietnam. During their talks, President Tran Dai Quang and his Madagascan counterpart Hery Rajaonarimampianina said that agricultural cooperation is a pillar in the Vietnamese-Madagascan relations.
The host leader underlined the importance of President Quang’s visit as this is the first time his country has welcomed a Vietnamese President. He said the Madagascan people have long admired the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people since the Southeast Asian country is a symbol of the struggle for national liberation in the past as well as of current national development, particularly in poverty reduction, which has been recognised by many countries around the world.
President Quang said his country is ready to cooperate with Madagascar in the fields it is strong in and Madagascar has demand for, especially agriculture, trade and investment. He asked both sides to soon sign important agreements such as those on double-taxation avoidance, and investment encouragement and protection so as to create a legal framework for business and investment partnerships.
The two Presidents agreed to direct their respective agriculture ministries to expeditiously organise meetings to devise concrete cooperation projects. The Vietnamese side repeated an invitation to Madagascar’s agriculture minister to visit its country in the near future. Vietnam and Madagascar should increase delegation exchanges at all levels and boost economic, trade and investment cooperation to intensify bilateral ties, President Quang said, asking Madagascar to provide optimal conditions for Vietnam’s military-run telecom Viettel to invest in the local telecommunication industry.
Both leaders highly valued the inauguration of Vietnam’s honorary consulate in Madagascar and described this as a milestone in the countries’ relations. The consulate is expected to help bring about practical outcomes in their cooperation in the time ahead. At the talks, they also exchanged views on many issues to improve cooperation within the International Organisation of La Francophonie. President Quang spoke highly of Madagascar’s efforts to host the 16th Francophonie Summit.
With regard to international and regional situations, the Vietnamese leader stressed the significance of enhanced cooperation to maintain peace, stability and development, particularly to ensure freedom, security and safety of navigation. The two sides highlighted the law-abiding spirit and the principle of resolving sea disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
President Quang took this occasion to ask Madagascar to support his country’s candidacy for a non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure. He thanked the Madagascan Government for helping to renovate the complex of President Ho Chi Minh statue at a square in downtown Antananarivo capital city, noting that the complex is a symbol of the countries’ time-honoured amity and demonstrates Madagascan’s sentiment towards the late leader of Vietnam. He also acknowledged favourable conditions the Madagascan Government has provided for Vietnamese-origin people.
On this occasion, he invited HeryRajaonarimampianina to pay an official visit to Vietnam. The Madagascan President thanked and accepted the invitation. Following their talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on rice trading cooperation between Vietnam and Madagascar.
