Cooperation potential between Viet Nam, Senegal and Morocco

By strengthening the relationship between Viet Nam and Senegal and Morocco, two countries holding important roles and positions in the West and North Africa, the parties can explore many new cooperation opportunities in key and promising fields.

Senegal is a potential market for Viet Nam's rice exports. (Photo: NDO)
Senegal is a potential market for Viet Nam's rice exports. (Photo: NDO)

Senegal is recognised as one of the most dynamically developing economies in the West African region. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Senegal is predicted to achieve an 8.3% growth rate in 2025, the highest in the region. As a country with an important position in West Africa, Senegal's economy is developing rapidly with an open trade policy and is a founding member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union - an influential organisation in the regional economic community. In addition, Senegal is also one of the leading countries in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an integration mechanism that opens opportunities to access the market of the entire African continent with more than one billion people.

Therefore, Senegal can serve as a gateway for Vietnamese goods, services, and businesses to further penetrate the West African market in particular and Africa in general. Conversely, Viet Nam can also be an important transit point and springboard to help Senegal access the ASEAN market, thereby expanding its presence in the Southeast Asian region.

Although Viet Nam and Senegal have a lot of potential and strengths to promote cooperation, however, in reality, trade exchange between the two countries remains modest. Bilateral trade turnover reached 81.16 million USD in 2024, of which Viet Nam exported 43.91 million USD, mainly pepper, textiles, vegetables and fruits, and imported 37.25 million USD, mainly cashew nuts and animal feed. As one of the major rice importers in Africa, Senegal is a potential market for Viet Nam's rice exports. However, the bilateral trade value is still low, and the two sides have not yet launched any investment cooperation projects in each other's markets.

According to Tran Quoc Khanh, Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria and Senegal, to realise this potential, the two countries need to make great efforts, especially at the business and government levels. Factors such as geographical distance, differences in technical standards, international payment systems, or logistics infrastructure remain challenges that need to be resolved.

Meanwhile, located in North Africa, on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, Morocco has great potential for tourism, welcoming over 10 million tourists annually. Morocco's financial system is relatively well developed, with Casablanca ranked the second financial centre in Africa, after Johannesburg in South Africa. Morocco wishes to promote relations with ASEAN, becoming a Sectoral Dialogue Partner. On July 24, 2016, the 49th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting announced the admission of Morocco as a member of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). In September 2023, Morocco officially became a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN.

The cooperation between Viet Nam and Morocco has achieved many significant milestones, marked by a series of official visits last year to enhance friendship and cooperation between the two countries in many fields, particularly parliamentary cooperation, economic exchange, preservation of common historical heritage, and people-to-people exchange.

In the economic field, the second meeting of the Viet Nam-Morocco Subcommittee on Trade and Industry Cooperation, held in November 2024 in Rabat, highlighted many potential areas of cooperation such as Halal industry, metallurgy, fertiliser, aviation, textiles and footwear. Morocco expressed its willingness to support Viet Nam in becoming an important player in the Halal industry in Southeast Asia, as demonstrated by the participation of the Moroccan Standards Institute (IMANOR) at the First International Conference on the Halal Industry held in Ha Noi in October 2024.

The Halal industry and tourism are promising sectors that can make an important contribution to strengthening the bilateral cooperation between Morocco and Viet Nam in the coming years. With the Halal industry being valued at up to trillions of USD, Viet Nam aims to become an important player in the international market. Morocco, with its extensive experience in the field of Halal certification, is ready to cooperate closely with Viet Nam by supporting the improvement of production capacity and export of Halal-certified products, especially towards Muslim countries in Africa and the Middle East as well as European countries with large Muslim communities. In terms of tourism, Morocco and Viet Nam, two attractive destinations with historical heritages, cultural diversity and unique natural landscapes, have the potential to cooperate in promoting tourism itineraries connecting the two countries.

By strengthening relations between Viet Nam and Senegal and Morocco, two countries with important roles and positions in the West and North African regions, the parties can seek many new cooperation opportunities in their potential and strong fields. With high political determination and the support of ministries, sectors and business communities of all parties, Viet Nam, Senegal and Morocco can become effective economic and cooperation bridges not only on the bilateral level but also at the sub-regional and regional levels.

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