President James Michel met with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong at its headquarter in Hung Vuong, Hanoi, during his state visit to Vietnam.

The President and the General Secretary 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 conveyed that his state visit to Vietnam is to further consolidate and usher 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 one another, 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 continued their mutual support and coordination at the international and multi lateral forums that the two countries are members such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Africa Union (AU). Areas that President Michel has positively agreed upon and given Seychelles’ full support.

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

Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong was elected as the General Secretary of party on 19th January 2011. He heads the party’s Secretariat as well as the Central Military Commission which is the country’s two most powerful policymaking bodies.

Editor’s note:

•Present at the meeting were the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Paul Adam, the Minister for Labour and Human Resources Development, Ms. Idith Alexander and other Senior Government officials.