The visit, the first by a head of State between Vietnam and Uganda, will be an important milestone in the bilateral ties. It takes place in the context of the two countries looking towards the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties (February 9, 1973).
During the visit, the two sides are scheduled to review multi-faceted cooperation and set out specific measures to raise the efficiency of collaboration in the coming time.
Vietnam and Uganda have yet to open their embassies in each other's capital city. However, the bilateral relations have been developing fruitfully, from politics to economy, trade, investment and agriculture.
Vietnam appointed King Mulenga Augustus Ceasor, a Ugandan citizen, as its Honorary Consul in Uganda in 2017.
The bilateral trade reached 14.3 million USD last year, up 39.8% from the previous year. Vietnam mainly exports steel, garments-textiles, machines, equipment, spare parts, phones and components to Uganda, while importing animal feed, materials, coffee, wood and timber products from the country.
As of October 2022, Uganda ran three projects worth 90,000 USD in Ho Chi Minh City, specialising in wholesale and retail, and car and motorbike repair. Meanwhile, Vietnam counted two projects on mining and construction in Uganda with a total investment capital of 35.5 million USD.
The two countries have coordinated and supported each other at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations.
Agriculture has been seen as a bright spot in the bilateral relations. Uganda sent delegations to Vietnam in 2018 and 2019, during which the two sides inked memoranda of understanding on cooperation in agriculture and fishery. Ample room still remains for the two countries to step up their collaboration in these fields.
The Ugandan President’s visit takes place at a time when African nations, including Uganda, attach importance to establishing and promoting cooperation with Asia-Pacific, including Vietnam.
