President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his spouse met President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio and his spouse in Hà Nội yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất 

HÀ NỘI — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio expressed their hope to expand the cooperation between the two countries in economy, agriculture and diplomacy during the latter’s official visit to Việt Nam from March 14-20.

During talks at the Presidential Palace in Hà Nội yesterday, the two leaders expressed their delight at the good development of Việt Nam and Sierra Leone relations in many fields. Political and diplomatic cooperation has increased and been effective and this has been reflected in the first visit of a head of state.

At multilateral levels, the two countries have regularly coordinated and supported each other's candidacy for positions at numerous forums and organisations, especially the United Nations.

Economically, in the face of the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade turnover, although still modest, still maintained its growth momentum, increasing three times from US$17 million in 2018 to $51.5 million in 2021. The two countries have also cooperated in the fields of agriculture and investment.

Regarding political diplomacy, the two sides agreed to continue maintaining high-level visits and contacts, exchanging delegations at all levels, strengthening coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, and at the same time support the expansion of cooperation in Africa through the African Union.

The two leaders also agreed to consider the economy as a key area of ​​cooperation. The two sides agreed to maximise the potential and strengths of the two economies, committed to closely implementing agreement to further promote trade cooperation.

The countries also agreed to encourage and create favourable conditions for enterprises to seek opportunities for business cooperation and investment.

The leaders committed to making agriculture the mainstay of bilateral cooperation and discussed measures to expand cooperation in other areas including high technology, telecommunications, digital transformation, innovation and education and training.

After the talks, President Phúc and President Bio witnessed the signing ceremony of three bilateral cooperation documents between the ministries and agencies in the fields of diplomacy, agriculture and fisheries. — VNS