00:00South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Vietnamese President Luang Quang on Thursday
00:06as he started a two-day visit to Hanoi to boost ties with the Southeast Asian nation.
00:13South Africa is Vietnam's largest trade and export partner in Africa.
00:19This is the first time to Vietnam be a South African president in around 20 years.
00:23Today we take a decisive step towards the commencement of a process to elevate our bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership.
00:40This reflects our shared commitment to deepening cooperation across a range of sectors.
00:49These sectors include defense, agriculture, justice, and constitutional development, mineral and petroleum resources,
01:00biodiversity, conservation, trade and investment, security, and a number of other areas.
01:09South Africa sees Vietnam as a key partner in our export diversification strategy
01:16and we are encouraged by the steady growth in trade and investment in our two countries.
01:25Two-way trade increase from $192 million in 2007 to $1.72 billion in 2024 according to Vietnam government statistics.
01:35One more business, justice?
01:38Two.
01:39Two.
Comments