Date: 04/05/2011
Source: The Presidency
Title: SA: Motlanthe: Remarks by the Deputy President of South Africa, at the Official luncheon in honour of the Vice-President of Vietnam, Pretoria

Your Excellency Vice-President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyễn Thi Doan;
Ministers and Deputy Ministers present;
You Excellency, Ambassador Nguyễn Manh Hunh;
Esteemed Guests from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Your Excellency, it is a great honour for me to host you and your delegation to lunch today.

I am particularly honoured to welcome you on behalf of our government and the people of South Africa.

South Africa attaches great importance to the excellent relations that exist between our two countries. Ours is a relationship that has grown, deepened and matured over the years.

Your visit is a further manifestation of the depth of our relations with each other.

I trust that you will take with you warm memories of your time in South Africa in the knowledge that your visit will certainly contribute to the further strengthening of our relations and the meaningful cooperation that we have developed in many areas.

I am sure we agree that true friendship and cooperation can only occur in a relationship of shared experiences and common values.

Vietnam’s struggle for liberation and its commitment to the upliftment of its people finds resonance in South Africa.

As like-minded partners, our relationship has developed not only strong bonds of friendship, but also tangible programmes and projects of cooperation which have diversified and strengthened over the past 15 years.

The focal point of our Government this year is the creation of decent jobs. We have asked all sectors of society to focus on creating jobs to help us deal with poverty and unemployment.

I was therefore delighted to hear that 21 South Africans from the uMshwathi Municipality are in Vietnam at the moment, receiving training in Furniture Making.

I want to applaud this initiative and hope that essential skills development opportunities such as this could be extended to more South Africans in future.

From our side, we were happy to make a contribution last year through a management training programme for senior officials from your government. Sharing our skills and experiences in this way will enrich and empower our people and give them the tools to break the chains of poverty.

Bilateral trade between South Africa and Vietnam is sound and despite the effects of the world economic downturn, trade volumes continue to increase year-on-year.

This provides yet more proof that close cooperation and trade between developing countries in these trying times is the best way to safeguard our economies.

Both South Africa and Vietnam offer excellent opportunities to investors and we should encourage our business communities to link up and explore all possible avenues for cooperation and trade.

I am very happy that your delegation includes a large number of Vietnamese business people providing an opportunity for our respective business communities to interact and explore business opportunities.

The first step in this regard was the Business Forum that took place in Johannesburg yesterday.

Your Excellency,

We had an opportunity earlier today to engage in substantive discussions on bilateral cooperation and we look forward to receiving a delegation from Vietnam in South Africa later this year for the 2nd Meeting of the Partnership Forum where our Governments will be able to continue further interaction.

I am confident that South Africa and Vietnam will continue to share perspectives and compare notes on matters such as fair global trade system, the reform of global financial institutions, development, peace and stability as well as on climate change.

On this account I would like to reaffirm to the Government and the people of Vietnam South Africa’s enduring friendship and commitment to Vietnam.

On behalf of the President, the Government and people of the Republic of South Africa, please join me in a toast to the health and prosperity of President Nguyễn Minh Triet and his Government and to the continued friendship between the people of South Africa and the people of Vietnam.