Seychelles’ first ambassador to Vietnam accredited |09 March 2009

The resident ambassador to China presented his credentials to Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Hanoi last Tuesday.

During the audience that followed the ceremony, President Triet recalled the 1980 visit to Vietnam by former President France Albert René and encouraged the strengthening of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

President Triet paid special attention to the suggestion made by Mr Le Gall to upgrade the 1986 technical assistance agreement between the two countries into an economic and technical cooperation agreement focusing on agriculture, fisheries, tourism, culture, environment protection, trade and investment.

The Vietnamese leader also expressed an interest in the benefits the two countries could gain from the double taxation avoidance agreement signed in 2005, after reviewing it and updating its content, as proposed by the Seychellois side.

He recommended that exchanges of visits between ministries, agencies and localities should be set up to study opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and Seychelles. During his visit to Hanoi, Mr Le Gall had positive talks about the taxation agreement with the director of the West Asia and Africa Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Van Doan; the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Hai Anh; the deputy director-general of the department of taxation, Ministry of Finance, Le Hong Hai; and her colleague, the director of the international taxation department, Nguyen Duc Thinh.

Seychelles and Vietnam opened diplomatic relations in 1979, and a Vietnamese embassy was operational in Madagascar in the 1980s with a non-resident ambassador accredited to Seychelles.

Vietnam is again looking into opening a new mission in the region, which would pave the way for even closer relations with Seychelles.

Although Vietnam has been hit by the global economic downturn, many observers consider it has the potential to be one of the fastest-growing economies after Russia, China, India and Brazil.