The sixth session of the Vietnam-Angola Inter-governmental Committee was opened on Wednesday in Hanoi to determine priority fields of bilateral cooperation in the next two years. Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan and Angolan Minister of Science and Technology Maria Candida Teixeira co-chaired the meeting, which reviewed the cooperation during the 2011-2013 period and set cooperation plans for the two years to come.  The two sides agreed that positive results have been made in the fields of politics-diplomacy, education-training, agriculture-rural development, industry-trade and healthcare.

Last year the two-way trade turnover stood at US$125 million, with Vietnam’s export to the African country increasing nearly 70 percent from 2011.

Several cooperation programs in health care, science and technology have been implemented, contributing to economic development in both countries.

The two ministers agreed that Vietnam and Angola will boost all-around cooperation and create favorable conditions for enterprises in Vietnam and Angola to seek cooperation opportunities and invest in the other country.

The two sides also agreed to increase the number of Vietnamese medical experts in Angola and enhance cooperation in health care, particularly in such areas as epidemic prevention, preventive medicine, traditional medicine and pharmaceuticals.

The meeting also discussed cooperation in the fields of agriculture and aquaculture, labor and social affairs.

The next inter-governmental meeting of Vietnam and Angola will be held in Angola’s capital of Luanda in 2015.