On the afternoon of July 23 (local time), within the framework of an official visit to Senegal, at the Prime Minister's Office, Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man met with Senegal Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highly appreciating the visit of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man for its significance in opening a new phase of cooperation for bilateral relations, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said that both the President and Prime Minister of Senegal are determined to promote cooperation with Vietnam to become the focus of Senegalese South-South cooperation policies.
Recalling the impressive meeting with Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in June 2025, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko affirmed his desire to soon visit Vietnam to have the opportunity to discuss specific cooperation opportunities between the two countries.
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said that Africa is increasingly playing an important role in Vietnam's foreign policy, as demonstrated through visits by senior Vietnamese leaders to the continent in 2025.
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man emphasized that with its strengths in the agricultural sector, Vietnam is ready to coordinate in developing a comprehensive agricultural development strategy with Senegal. Vietnam also wishes to promote cooperation in other areas with strengths such as telecommunications and digital transformation, and proposes to create favorable conditions for businesses and people of the two countries to enhance exchange activities.
The Senegalese Prime Minister also expressed special interest in the agricultural sector, proposing cooperation in very specific areas such as experience in plant breeding, irrigation techniques, irrigation, fruit tree planting, agricultural engineering training... and affirmed that Senegalese is eager to import more rice from Vietnam to help ensure food security.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko welcomed and was ready to create conditions for Vietnamese technology and service enterprises to invest and do business in Senegal, emphasizing the potential of Vietnam and Senegal to become effective bridges for each country's goods to penetrate deeper into the markets of West Africa and Southeast Asia.
Prime Minister Senegal Ousmane Sonko highly appreciated the role of the Vietnamese National Assembly in promoting the people's mastery, and agreed with the proposal of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man on promoting substantive cooperation between the legislative bodies of Vietnam and Senegal, for the benefit of the people of the two countries.
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man suggested that the Senegalese Prime Minister direct relevant agencies to continue creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to seek cooperation opportunities in Senegalese.
After the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Minister of Home Affairs of Singapore Ousmane Sonko witnessed the signing and exchange of cooperation documents between the two countries, including the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of African integration and Foreign Affairs of Singapore, the Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Singapore, the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the agricultural sector between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Food and Livestock Authority of Senegal, the Protocol on developing friendship and cooperation between Can Tho city and Ziguinchor city.
