South African and Vietnamese officials today agreed on a process towards the finalisation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate amongst others on natural resource management, wildlife protection and law enforcement.

This comes after today's bi-lateral meeting where amongst other issues discussed, was the issue of wildlife protection and in particular issues pertaining to hunting and illegal killing of rhinoceros as well as the subsequent illegal trade in rhino horn.

The objective of the MoU is to promote co-operation between the two countries in the field of biodiversity conservation and protection, law enforcement and compliance with CITES on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

The two countries have agreed that the MoU and the subsequent implementation plan allow co-operation in areas of biodiversity conservation, biodiversity law enforcement, wildlife trade, information and intelligence sharing and gathering, permit issuing processes and verification mechanisms, monitoring and reporting systems, technology development and sharing, capacity building and training, prosecution and law enforcement, awareness, knowledge and research, custom services and legal systems within which the two countries operate.

The parties also agreed to include natural resource management, protected areas management, community development and sustainable livelihoods in so far as such relate to biodiversity management.

A Vietnamese delegation led by their Vice Prime Minister visited South Africa recently and it was agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on wildlife trafficking would be finalised. The final MoU between the two countries will be finalised once all the due processes have been followed flowing from today’s discussion and agreement on areas of co-operation.

The government of the Republic of South Africa has committed itself to creating a prosperous and equitable society living in harmony with natural resources and protecting the country’s rich biodiversity heritage for the benefit of all its citizens.