On August 24, at the Bac Bo Palace, General Secretary and President To Lam received Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Ivory Coast Patrick Achi and the high-level delegation of the National Assembly of Ivory Coast who are on an official visit to Vietnam from August 23-26.
At the reception, General Secretary and President To Lam welcomed the visit of the President of the National Assembly of Ivory Coast, the first visit of the head of the legislative body of an African country to Vietnam since the beginning of the 16th National Assembly term.
Continuing the series of meaningful activities organized in 2025 when the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1975 - 2025), General Secretary and President To Lam believes that this visit by National Assembly Chairman Patrick Achi will open a new chapter in the good friendship and cooperation between the two countries and the two parliamentary bodies.
Appreciating the good developments of Vietnam - Ivory Coast cooperation relations in recent years, making Ivory Coast Vietnam's largest trading partner in Africa in 2025, General Secretary and President To Lam said that Vietnam and Ivory Coast need to strengthen cooperation further for the common interests of the two nations, together contributing to the development goals of the two countries and peace and stability in the two regions.
In addition to promoting delegation exchanges, contacts at all levels and exchanges and sharing legislative experiences, General Secretary and President To Lam said that the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National Assembly of Ivory Coast can also play a good role as a bridge in promoting bilateral relations, especially in urging and supervising the negotiation process, signing and implementation of commitments and cooperation agreements between the two countries. The two National Assemblies can also support and further promote the connection of the people of the two countries by promoting cooperation in the fields of culture, society, education and training and people-to-people exchanges.
Regarding economic cooperation, General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that the two countries expand and diversify import and export items in addition to traditional items such as raw cashew nuts and rice, and identify solutions to balance the bilateral trade balance. The two National Assemblies should study early establishment of mechanisms for exchanging information on new policies and regulations of the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, and investment.
The General Secretary and President also requested Ivory Coast to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese investors to participate in investment in Ivory Coast, especially in strong sectors such as agriculture, telecommunications, oil and gas, digital transformation, network security, mineral exploitation and processing, agricultural product processing, civil infrastructure construction, seaports, urban areas and electric vehicles.
Speaker of the Ivory Coast National Assembly Patrick Achi thanked the warm and friendly reception that the Party, State and people of Vietnam gave to the delegation and respectfully conveyed the greetings of the President of Ivory Coast, Chairman of the Houphouet Party for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) Alassane Ouattara to General Secretary and President To Lam.
Expressing his pleasure to visit and witness firsthand the impressive development achievements that Vietnam has achieved after only 40 years of Doi Moi, the President of the Ivory Coast National Assembly once again emphasized that Vietnam's success is a source of inspiration and a model for African countries to aim for in the process of building and developing the country.
Sharing specific and substantive results in the talks with Politburo members, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, President of the Ivory Coast National Assembly assessed that Vietnam and Ivory Coast have many similarities in aspirations and development conditions, and hoped that Ivory Coast would become a destination for Vietnamese businesses to invest and expand the market to the entire West African region.
The Speaker of the Ivory Coast Parliament expressed his wish that the Parliaments of the two countries will become a regular forum for dialogue, mutual learning and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, processing and manufacturing industry, digital transformation, private investment, human resource development and financial attraction for development.
