Viet Nam and South Africa agree to strengthen parliamentary cooperation, expand legislative exchanges, and use their regional positions to improve trade, investment, and access between Asian and African markets.
Viet Nam and South Africa have agreed to strengthen parliamentary cooperation and use their respective positions as gateways to Asian and African markets to expand bilateral trade, investment, and broader economic ties.
The agreement was reached during talks between Nguyen Hong Dien, Vice President of the National Assembly of Viet Nam, and Annelie Lotriet, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of South Africa, in Cape Town. Dien was leading a high-level Vietnamese National Assembly delegation on an official visit to South Africa.
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Dien highlighted the long-standing friendship and mutual support between the two countries and said the visit aimed to advance cooperation following the elevation of Viet Nam-South Africa relations to a Strategic Partnership in November 2025. He also conveyed National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man’s greetings and invitation to South African Parliament Speaker Thoko Didiza to visit Viet Nam. Lotriet accepted an invitation to visit Viet Nam and called for closer coordination between the two legislatures.
The two sides identified legislative cooperation as an important area for further engagement. Lotriet said the parliaments have scope to exchange knowledge and expertise, particularly in developing legal frameworks suited to the digital era. She also highlighted the importance of coordination at multilateral forums, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Economic cooperation also featured prominently in the discussions. Viet Nam called on the South African Parliament to encourage greater market access for Vietnamese products and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises seeking investment and partnerships in sectors including electronics, telecommunications, minerals, renewable energy, textiles, supporting industries, artificial intelligence, and innovation.
Lotriet described Viet Nam as a strategic gateway for South Africa to access Asian markets, while South Africa can provide Viet Nam with a gateway to African markets. The two countries’ complementary regional integration strategies could support stronger trade and investment links between Asia and Africa, she said.
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The parliamentary engagement follows the countries’ decision in November 2025 to elevate bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership. Their joint statement identified trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, minerals, technology, digital transformation, education, and people-to-people exchanges as areas for expanded cooperation.