Nigeria and Vietnam have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation with Vietnam. The deal was the major highlight of the bilateral meeting between the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and his Vietnamese counterpart, Madam Võ Thi Ánh Xuân, at the presidential palace in Hanoi.
While Nigeria’s Ambassador to Vietnam; Ambassador Hassan Adamu Mamani, signed for Nigeria; Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence; Senior Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien, signed on behalf of his country.
Nigeria and Vietnam have also expressed determination to deepen their long-standing bilateral relations as both countries plan to work together more, particularly in the areas of digital economy, telecommunications, agriculture and trade, among others, for the mutual benefit of the citizens.
The need for improved collaboration between Nigeria and Vietnam was the focus of the bilateral meeting yesterday morning between Osinbajo, and his Vietnamese counterpart.
The two vice presidents acknowledged the countries’ great market potential generally and especially in digital economy, telecommunications, agriculture (especially cashew nut processing) and trade.
According to Osinbajo, “there are vast opportunities that exist for cooperation and collaboration, especially in the area of digital economy and telecoms, and we look forward to the signing of some of the agreements that we have spoken about – the trade and investment agreements, trade projection agreements, double taxation agreements.
“We look forward to accelerating the process, ensuring that those agreements are signed because they are vital to the collaborations that we will see between our countries in the coming years.”
In the area of agriculture, Osinbajo submitted that, “given the food crisis that the world faces today, and is likely to continue facing even in the coming years, I like to say that the way forward is for our countries to collaborate…”
On Vietnam’s mission to establish relations with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Osinbajo assured his Vietnamese counterpart that, “we will certainly support Vietnam’s establishment of relations with ECOWAS, we think that it is a very positive thing indeed and we are very mindful of the opportunities that will be created with that kind of collaboration.”
Shortly before arriving the Presidential Palace, Osinbajo visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to pay respect to the late Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh.