Vietnam considers South Africa a leading strategic partner in Africa
VOV.VN - Vietnam regards South Africa as a leading and important partner in the African region, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during their meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6.

Meeting President Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the 2025 BRICS Summit, PM Chinh highly valued South Africa’s international standing, particularly its role as Chair of the G20 in 2025, and expressed Vietnam’s desire to further deepen the “Partnership for Cooperation and Development” between the two countries in a more practical and effective manner.
Highlighting the great potential for cooperation, the Prime Minister noted that Vietnam and South Africa can complement each other in many areas. He called for stronger cooperation in economy, trade, investment, education and training, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, laying a solid foundation for elevating bilateral relations to new heights.
He also thanked South Africa for inviting Vietnam’s senior leadership to attend the coming 2025 G20 Summit and extended a cordial invitation to President Ramaphosa to visit Vietnam in the near future.
President Ramaphosa, for his part, emphasised the significance of the April 2025 phone call with Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam, describing it as an important milestone that helped deepen the relationship between the two Parties and two countries.
The President commended Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements and reaffirmed South Africa’s high regard for the traditional friendship built through shared struggles against colonialism and apartheid. He expressed his strong desire to visit Vietnam in 2025.
The two leaders discussed key directions for advancing the Vietnam – South Africa relationship and agreed to explore the signing of new agreements and legal frameworks to boost economic cooperation and enhance collaboration in education, defence, and security. They also agreed to consider expanding cooperation into other promising areas such as energy, mining, sustainable resource use, infrastructure development, and climate change response.
On this occasion, the two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, reaffirming their shared commitment to promoting multilateralism, respecting international law, and strengthening South–South cooperation for peace and sustainable development.