At the invitation of Vietnamese President Luong Cuong and his spouse, Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye and his spouse are making an official visit to Vietnam from April 3-6.
This is the first visit by a Burundi head of state in 28 years, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. President Evariste Ndayishimiye and his spouse’s visit demonstrates Burundi’s special regard for the friendly relations and good cooperation between the two countries, as well as Vietnam’s role and position in the region and the world.
Burundi is located in East Africa, with a relatively stable political situation in recent years. The National Council for the Defence of Democracy – Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) has been in power since 2005, occupying the majority of seats in the National Assembly and the Senate.
Burundi aims to become an emerging country by 2040 and a developed nation by 2060. Burundi implements a foreign policy of multilateralism and diversification, prioritising relations with the African Union (AU), countries in the African Great Lakes region, the East African Community, Gulf countries, and others.
President Evariste Ndayishimiye, also the president of the ruling CNDD-FDD, is sympathetic towards and values developing relations with Vietnam. He maintains an open policy that facilitates operations of foreign businesses in general and Vietnamese enterprises in particular, with the telecommunications joint venture of Viettel in Burundi (Lumitel) being a prime example.
President Evariste Ndayishimiye and his spouse’s official visit to Vietnam takes place against the backdrop of continuing positive development in Vietnam-Burundi friendly relations and cooperation through state and party channels.
The Burundi leader considers Vietnam a model in the struggle for national liberation, as well as in national construction and development. The two countries have increased exchanges and contact at various levels, especially high levels.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with the Burundi president on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2023. The Secretary-General of the CNDD-FDD and Burundi’s Minister of Communication, Information Technology and Media visited Vietnam twice in July 2024 and November 2024.
Investment cooperation, notably the Lumitel telecommunications joint venture between Viettel and the Burundi government, is a highlight in bilateral economic relations. Lumitel is currently the largest telecommunications service provider, and the second-largest taxpayer, having made significant contributions to Burundi’s socio-economic development. Trade cooperation between the two countries has reached 3-5 million USD in recent years. Vietnam mainly exports machinery, equipment, spare parts, computers, and component products while importing ores, various minerals and animal feed.
President Evariste Ndayishimiye and his spouse’s official visit to Vietnam presents an opportunity to deepen and enhance Vietnam-Burundi relations, particularly in traditional cooperation areas such as politics-diplomacy, information technology, telecommunications, trade, education-training, and agriculture. Through this visit, both countries also wish to strengthen cooperation between the two parties, as well as in other areas, contributing to peace, security and development in the region and the world.
Welcoming President Evariste Ndayishimiye and his spouse is a positive step by Vietnam in implementing its independent, self-reliant foreign policy of multilateralisation and diversification of international relations, proactively and actively engaging in comprehensive and extensive international integration in line with the spirit of the 13th Party Congress.
It also implements the project on developing relations between Vietnam and Middle East-African countries for the 2016-2025 period and the project on developing Vietnam-AU relations for the 2021-2025 period.
This affirms Vietnam’s desire to promote relations and share development experiences with friendly African countries, including Burundi, and to strengthen coordination and support between Vietnam and Burundi at multilateral and regional forums, especially the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Francophonie, and Vietnam-Africa cooperation within the AU framework, as well as to exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
May President Evariste Ndayishimiye and his wife’s official visit to Vietnam be a great success, opening new doors of cooperation between Vietnam and Burundi.
