South Africa and Vietnam elevate tie to strategic partnership

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong on Thursday as he started a two day visit to Hanoi to boost ties with the Southeast Asian nation.

“Today, we take a decisive step towards the commencement of the process to elevate our bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership,” Ramaphosa said during a news conference after meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart.

"South Africa sees Vietnam as a key partner in our export diversification strategy and we are encouraged by the steady growth in trade and investment in our two countries," he added.

Vietnam aims to get rich by 2045 and become Asia’s next "tiger economy" — a term used to describe the earlier ascent of countries like South Korea and Taiwan.

South Africa is Vietnam’s largest trade and export partner in Africa.

Two-way trade increased from $192 million in 2007 to $1.72 billion in 2024, according to Vietnam government statistics.

This is the first visit to Vietnam by a South African President in around 20 years.