Vietnam approved for Ethiopian Airlines to open a direct flight to connect the capital of the two countries, on the occasion of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali was officially visiting.
Abiy Ahmed Ali Prime Minister is officially visiting Vietnam and attending the Fourth Summit of the Partner Forum for Green Growth and Global Target 2030 (P4G) on April 14-17. This is the first official visit of the high -ranking Ethiopia leaders to Vietnam since the two countries established relations nearly 50 years ago.
On the occasion of the visit, Vietnam awarded the letter of approval allowing Ethiopian Airlines to open a direct flight connecting the capital of the two countries. The only direct flight will be implemented to create conditions for connecting trade between the two countries in particular and between Vietnam and Africa in general, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the April 15 meeting at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the fluctuations of the global economic and trade tensions, Vietnam and Ethiopia need to promote mutual dialogue and understanding each other to continue diversifying the market, creating favorable conditions for economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Abiy Ahmed Prime Minister affirmed that Ethiopia considered Vietnam as its external priority in Asia and wanted to develop bilateral cooperation in Vietnam in areas where the two sides have strengths and potential.
The two Prime Ministers said that the current cooperation is not commensurate with the size and potential of the two economies with a total market scale of over 230 million people and has a top high growth rate of the two areas.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. Image: VNA
The two sides agreed to negotiate the basic agreements and agreements to create a legal corridor for economic cooperation. The two Prime Ministers also agreed to exchange and introduce investment projects in potential areas such as telecommunications, digital transformation, cybersecurity, mining, industrial and consumer goods production, processing industry, export, civil products, civil construction, infrastructure development, education and training, health and tourism.
The two Prime Ministers discussed international and regional issues of concern, agreed to continue coordinating and supporting each other in multilateral forums, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in each region and around the world.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam is ready to be a bridge to promote cooperation between ASEAN and Ethiopia, wishing Ethiopia to support Vietnam to promote relations with the African Union (AU) and Eastern African countries, ready to support Ethiopia to organize the P4G Summit in 2027.
In terms of security and safety in the waters, the two sides agreed on the importance of the East Sea and the Red Sea in international maritime traffic. The two sides agreed to resolve disputes by peaceful measures, on the basis of compliance with international law, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of aviation and maritime in two areas.
After the talks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents in areas such as trade and education.
General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed Ali. Image: VNA
Also in the afternoon of April 15, General Secretary To Lam received Ethiopia Prime Minister, Chairman of the Prosperity Party (PP) Abiy Ahmed Ali. The General Secretary said that Abiy Ahmed Ali’s visit will bring the relationship between the Communist Party of Vietnam and PP, as well as the friendship and cooperation between the two countries to a new period, more and more deeply developed.
General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam always attaches great importance to friendship and cooperation with African friends, including Ethiopia. The General Secretary asked the two parties to study and identify a number of priority cooperation areas in the upcoming period based on the potential and needs of the two parties, especially in the fields of agriculture, commerce, investment, science and technology, connecting people and businesses.
Ethiopia Prime Minister wants Vietnam to share experiences in fast and sustainable socio -economic development and environmental protection. General Secretary To Lam asked the two sides to soon open a representative agency in each country to support to promote cooperation.
Ethiopia is located in eastern Africa, with an area of more than 1.1 million km2 with a population of 130 million people, second in the continent after Nigeria. Ethiopia is the largest economy in the East Africa and the fifth largest Africa, the country with the largest economic growth rate in the continent and is considered a bright spot on economic development here.
Vietnam and Ethiopia established diplomatic relations on February 23, 1976. Two-dimensional trade turnover reached an average of 10-15 million USD a year in the last 3 years.
As of October 2024, Ethiopia had a valid investment project in Vietnam with a total investment of 10,000 USD. MK Group is a Vietnamese enterprise with a joint venture project in the field of smart card production in Ethiopia.