Seychelles and Vietnam seek ways to boost political ties |30 August 2013

President James Michel has met the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, at its headquarters in Hung Vuong, Hanoi.

President Michel and Mr Trong discussed the traditional and long-standing friendship that exists between Seychelles and Vietnam, the on-going solidarity and excellent relations in politics as well as the diplomacy between the two countries.

During the meeting President Michel also noted that his state visit to Vietnam is to further consolidate and usher in a new time for the two countries to further collaborate and ensure the continuation of cooperation and entering a new phase of more dynamic relations for the future.

“Eventhough our two countries are very far from each other, I feel that they are close, in the sense that we share common vision, goals and objectives. There is a lot we can learn from experience with Vietnam. This visit will serve many possibilities for us to explore new avenues of cooperation,” said President Michel in the meeting.

In the pursuit of foreign policy for peace cooperation and development, Mr Trong had underlined the importance that Vietnam has in its relationship with Seychelles and other African countries.

He expressed his wish that Seychelles and Vietnam continue their mutual support and coordination at the international and multi lateral forums that the two countries are members of such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Africa Union (AU).

Furthermore, Mr Michel expressed the possibility of having agreements in the future between the Seychelles’ Parti Lepep and the Communist Party of Vietnam which by doing so, he said, will strengthen the ties between the two parties.

Mr Trong was elected as the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam on January 19, 2011. He heads the party’s secretariat as well as the Central Military Commission which is the country’s two most powerful policymaking bodies.

Present at the meeting were the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Paul Adam, the Minister for Labour and Human Resource Development, Idith Alexander and other senior government officials.