3:26:37 PM | 7/8/2005
President of Vietnam, Tran Duc Luong, will attend the Asia-Africa Summit in Jakarta and the 50th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in Bandung, scheduled for April 22-24, according to a communiqué released by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) yesterday.
The ministry added that the attendance is to be made at the invitations of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Vietnam has always highly valued Asia-Africa cooperation and actively worked to contribute to the cooperation through the Non-Alignment Movement for the sake of peace, independence, democracy and social justice, spokesman of the MoFA Le Dzung said last week.
"In a constantly changing world, Vietnam will continue to do its best through a foreign policy of openness, multi-lateralization and diversity to strengthen the solidarity, mutual understanding and support between countries in the two continents," Dung said in response to a query on Vietnam's evaluation of the Asia-Africa Non-Alignment Movement in the context that the Asia-Africa Summit is due to meet in Jakarta.
Vietnam has maintained ties with Africa over many decades and constantly worked to boost its cooperation with the continent, especially in trade. The trade value between Vietnam and African countries grew from US$200 million in 2000 to US$560 million in 2004, centering on rice, tea, cotton, garments, and electronics parts.
The two sides have also implemented a number of cooperation projects in agriculture, health care, poverty reduction, safe water supply, and personnel exchange.
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