National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn and Spouse Begin Official Visit to Senegal

Welcoming the delegation at Blaise Diagne International Airport in the capital city of Dakar were President of the National Assembly of Senegal El Malick Ndiaye, several members of the Standing Committee of the Senegalese National Assembly, Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria concurrently accredited to Senegal Trần Quốc Khánh, embassy staff, and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Senegal.

Local people welcomed National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn, his spouse, and the high-level Vietnamese delegation with vibrant traditional dances.

Immediately afterward, the two National Assembly Chairmen held a brief meeting.

This is the first official visit by a key Vietnamese leader to Senegal in nearly 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In recent years, the two nations have maintained a good cooperative friendship, consistently coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Francophonie, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Economic cooperation has seen positive developments, with bilateral trade reaching USD 81.16 million in 2024, of which Vietnam exported USD 43.91 million to Senegal. In the first four months of this year alone, Vietnam’s exports to Senegal reached USD 43.3 million, nearly equal to the entire figure of last year.

Between 1997 and 2005, Vietnam sent more than 100 agricultural experts and technicians to work in Senegal under a tripartite agricultural cooperation program funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which received high praise from both FAO and Senegal. Parliamentary cooperation between the two countries has mainly taken place through multilateral mechanisms such as the IPU, the Francophone Parliamentary Assembly (APF), and at multilateral conferences organized by the Vietnamese National Assembly (such as the 2019 Conference of the APF’s Committee on Education, Communication, Culture, and the Women Parliamentarians Network, and the 132nd IPU Assembly in 2015). The First Vice President of the Senegalese National Assembly attended the APF Executive Committee Meeting in January 2025 in Cần Thơ City.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkku8ig3kwE

It is expected that during this official visit to Senegal, National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn will hold talks and meetings with the highest leaders of the host country; attend a policy and legal forum on promoting Vietnam-Senegal cooperation in agriculture, trade, and investment; as well as meet with staff of the Embassy and the Vietnamese/Vietnamese-origin community in Senegal...

The visit to Senegal by the National Assembly Chairman holds special significance in consolidating political trust, deepening the friendship, and creating momentum to promote multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Senegal, including parliamentary collaboration, and establishing a legal framework for the governments and enterprises of both countries to strengthen cooperation in the coming time.