Algeria – Vietnam: 60 years of good traditional friendship relations

The Ambassador of Algeria to Vietnam, Boubazine Abdelhamid, affirmed to the Vietnamese News Agency (VNA) the traditional good diplomatic and friendly relations between the two countries, in the context of celebrating the 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The Algerian Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E.Mr. Boubazine Abdelhamid.

According to the Algerian diplomat, relations between the two countries were forged during years of war against colonialism and foreign occupation. Vietnam recognized the provisional government of the Algerian Republic on September 26, 1958, one week after its announcement. These historical relations have been extended in the field of economic, technical and financial cooperation. Many agreements were signed, especially during the 1970s after the triumph of the Vietnamese over the Americans and the reunification of the country in 1975.

Thus, a current of exchanges was established between the two countries through high-level visits made on both sides and contacts within international institutions.

Thus, the volume of trade between Vietnam and Algeria began to grow year by year from 82 million dollars in 2009 to 281 million dollars in 2017. These exchanges began to decline thereafter and the Covid 19 pandemic has had a negative impact on exchanges of visits as well as on trade between the two countries. The end of the pandemic and the holding of the 12th session of the Joint Commission in Hanoi next December will give new impetus to bilateral relations.

This year, the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation. Ambassador Boubazine Abdelhamid announced a series of activities for this important event.

The holding of political consultations (3 rd session) between the two foreign ministries in Hanoi last May was a good start for this event. The two countries want this celebration to be worthy of the good relations between the two countries, as evidenced by the telephone conversation scheduled between the two Heads of State.

The Embassy of Algeria in Hanoi will also organize several activities including a reception which will be twinned with that of the National Day of November 1 as a photo exhibition in Hanoi; study day at the Diplomatic Academy under the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs; children's drawing and singing contest at the Algeria-Vietnam Friendship College; ceremony in honor of former principals and former principals of this school. Kateb Yacine's play “The Man in the Rubber Sandals” evoking President Ho Chi Minh, which will be performed at the Vietnamese national theatre.

Vietnamese and Algerian executives and employees at the Bir Seba deposit.

According to Ambassador Boubazine Abdelhamid, if political relations are excellent, economic relations between the two countries have not yet risen to the level of political relations. The trade volume between Algeria and Vietnam reached $262.54 million in 2021. Algerian imports amounted to $231.57 million and Algerian exports to Vietnam reached $30.97 million.

To reduce this deficit in the trade balance between the two countries, the Algerian side and the Vietnamese side are encouraging their companies to participate more in the exploration of the Algerian market to buy products, in particular agri-food products (dates, olive oil), minerals (fertilizers and soil enrichment products), gas (LPG) and other raw materials.

In addition, it will be necessary to renovate the legal framework of Algerian-Vietnamese cooperation because among the many draft agreements and governmental bilateral cooperation agreements in various fields, some need to be updated, in particular the agreement on the reciprocal protection of investments. The new Algerian law on investments constitutes one of the elements favorable to their development.    

The 12th session of the Mixed Commission will be held in Hanoi before the end of this year and in particular the preparations under way must review all these legal texts and finalize them.

On this occasion, Ambassador Boubazine Abdelhamid highly appreciated the socio-economic achievements acquired by Vietnam in recent times.

He pointed out that Vietnam has, since 1986 during the 6th National Party Congress, started new approaches internally and externally with the launch of Doi moi (Renewal).

Thus, the Vietnamese economy began to develop steadily at a steady rate of about 7% per year over the past 35 years, the GDP, in continuous growth, reached 368 billion dollars in 2021 and made Vietnam the 4th largest economy in ASEAN. Average per capita income increased 17 times to $3,512 per year. Vietnam left the group of low-income countries in 2008. From chronic food deficiency, Vietnam has managed to ensure not only its food security, but also to export, at the forefront of the world, rice and agricultural products. Vietnam's industry has experienced sustained development.

Vietnam has one of the most open economies in the world today with some 70 trade agreements (bilateral and multilateral). The volume of exports and imports of goods in 2021 hit a record high of $668.5 billion. Exports remain the strong point of the Vietnamese economy, contributing to the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the recorded amount of foreign direct investment reached 395 billion dollars.

These constantly positive figures confirm that Vietnam is on the right path that it is prospering and making great progress year by year to become a developed country as expected.

The Algerian ambassador also said he likes Vietnam very much. He said, “My arrival in Vietnam coincided with the Tet celebration. I discovered on this occasion the attachment of the Vietnamese people to their culture and their ancestral traditions forged through centuries. This beautiful traditional festival shows the attachment of Vietnamese men and women to family relations, to intergenerational cohesion and more deeply to returning to one's roots”.

In Vietnam, he had the opportunity to discover Vietnamese martial arts, in particular Vocotruyen Vietnam (Vovinam) whose world championship was, for the first time in history, organized outside Vietnam, in Algeria.

In summary, Vietnam is an example of a successful marriage between tradition and modernity. It is the example of the tree whose roots are deeply sunk in the ground and the branches are slender always higher towards the sky.