Viện Nghiên cứu Nam Á, Tây Á và Châu Phi

To celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Africa Day (25/5/1963-25/05/2023), the Institute for Africa and Middle East Studies (IAMES) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) in cooperation with the Africa Group in Hanoi to co-organize the Hybrid Seminar with the theme “Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnam” in May 24^th 2023 in the VASS Conference Hall, 176 Thai Ha, Dong Da, Hanoi.

 

The Hybrid Seminar has been paid attention by a lot of the Vietnamese, African and international governmental officials, diplomats, researchers, enterprises and press. There are about 150 physical participants including HE.Mr. Abdelhamid Boubazine, Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to Vietnam; HE.Ms Amal Abdel Kader Elmorsi Salama, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Vietnam; HE.Mr Jamale Chouaibi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Vietnam ; Mr. Gargadi Joseph, Chargé d'affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Vietnam; Mr. Marius Conradie, Political Counsellor of the South African Embassy in Vietnam; Ms. Suzana Fernanda Albino Pedro, Counsellor of the Angolian Embassy in Vietnam… HE.Dr. Phan Chi Hieu, President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS); HE.Amb. Nguyen Phuong Nga, Chairperson of Vietnam Association of Friendship Organizations (VUFO); HE.Amb Tran Tam Giaop, Chairperson of Vietnam Association of Former Ambassadors;  HE.Mr. Pham Sy Tam, Former Ambassador of Vietnam to Egypt; HE.Mr. Tran Nguyen Tuyen, Former Ambassador of Vietnam to Saudi Arabia; HE.Mr. Hoang Sy Cuong, Ambassador-Designate of Vietnam to South Africa; Assoc.Prof. Dr. Le Phuoc Minh, Director General of IAMES; Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dao The Anh, Vice President of Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Ms. Nguyen Minh Phuong, Head of the Asian-Africa Market Division of MOIT; Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang, Senior Lecturer of National Economy University; Dr. Phung Danh Thang, Director of the International Francophone Institute; Dr. Pham Cao Cuong, Director General of the Southwest Asia – India Studies; Mr. Le Quang Thang, Vice President of Vietnam-Africa Economic Cooperation Alliance (VAECA), Senior Specialist of Vegetexco of T&T Group. Additionally, there consists of the representatives from VCCI, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Investment and Planning; some international studies institutes of VASS, many Vietnamese enterprises and African students who are studying in Vietnam.

An there were about 50 virtual participants including HE.Ms. Vuyiswa Tulelo, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Vietnam; HE.Mr. Nguyen Nam Tien, Ambassador of Vietnam to Tanzania; Mr. Silver  Ojakol, Chief of Staff of the Secretary General of the AfCFTA; Mr. Ahmed Buckley, Director of African Union Partnerships, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt; Dr. Blessing Chipanda, Research Consultant, African Futures and Innovation, Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria; Ms. Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director of the Trade Law Centre, South Africa; Mr. Oye Akinsemoyin, Chairperson of Nigeria-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NVCCI); Ms. Tu Thanh Huong, VEDICO of German and a lot of African and international enterprises…

After the opening remarks of HE.Mr. Abdelhamid Boubazine, Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to Vietnam on behalf of the Africa Group of Ambassadors; HE.Dr. Phan Chi Hieu, President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS); HE.Amb. Nguyen Phuong Nga, Chairperson of Vietnam Association of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) and Video message from H.E. Mr. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Hybrid Seminar is focused on two panels as follows:

Panel 1: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area: Current Status and Potential Significance for Africa’s Partners by the facilitator of  Mr. Silver Ojakol, Chief of Staff of the Secretary General of the AfCFTA and five panelists consisting of Mr. Ahmed Buckley, Director of African Union Partnerships, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt;  Dr. Blessing Chipanda, Research Consultant, African Futures and Innovation,Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria; Ms. Nguyen Minh Phuong , Head of West Asia and Africa Market Division, MOIT; Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Thuong Lang, Senior Lecturer at the National Economic University of Vietnam;  Mr. Le Quang Thang, Senior Specialist of Import Export and International Trade of Vegetexco Vietnam, Vice-President of VAECA

Panel 2: Partnering in the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area: Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnam by the  facilitator of Assoc. Prof. Dr Le Phuoc Minh, Director General of IAMES, President of VAECA and five panelists consisting of H.E. Ms. Amal Abdelkader Salama, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt; H.E. Mr. Jamale Chouaibi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco; Ms. Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director of the Trade Law Centre, South Africa;  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao The Anh, Vice President of Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASS), Vice President of VAECA; Dr. Dinh Cong Hoang, Director of Development Cooperation Dept., IAMES

The quest for uniting African countries has always been the objective of the  African people since the beginning. It’s also the dream of founding fathers of Organization of Africa Unity and the endeavor of the African Union.

For the purpose of strengthening socio-economic development and regional integration, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was approved by the 18th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012. After 7 years, the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA entered into force in May 2019 for the 22 countries which had by then deposited their instrument of ratification. To date, 46 African countries have ratified the Agreement. Once completed, the AfCFTA will be the largest free trade area in the world with a total population of 1.3 billion people and a GDP of 3.4 trillion USD (WB, 2020). 

Implementation of the AfCFTA will make Africa more deeply economically integrated, attract more foreign investment, promote trade, create more jobs, eliminate poverty and improve prosperity for all African nations. According to the World Bank’s Report 2020, the AfCFTA could make FDI increase by between 111%  and 159% by attracting cross-border investment through reductions in nontariff barriers, and replacing regional and bilateral trade agreements by the single, free one.

The AfCFTA would bring more opportunities for new higher-paid employments, especially jobs for women would be improved. Thanks to the AfCFTA, wages would rise by 11.2 percent for women and 9.8 percent for men by 2035. With increased integration, Africa’s exports to the rest of the world would go up by 32 percent by 2035, and intra-African exports would grow by 109 percent, led by manufactured goods. If the AfCFTA’s goals are fully realized, 50 million African people could escape extreme poverty by 2035, and real income could rise by 9 percent. Furthermore, the AfCFTA could make Africa not only carry out the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also implement the AU’s Agenda 2063.

Vietnam and the African nations have traditional relations of friendship, and always supported each other in the struggle for national liberation and for  national construction and development. In addition, the votes of African nations in international multilateral fora constitute an influential weight, and the regular exchange of support remains one of the key areas where Africa and Vietnam have always demonstrated mutual understanding. In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the trade turnover between Vietnam and other regions to decrease, the bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Africa rather rose more than 7 billion USD in 2021. The main exported goods of Vietnam to Africa include industrial products, agro-products (food, coffee, tea, pepper, aquaculture) and processed products. Vietnam’s imported goods from Africa are mainly raw materials (cotton, cashew, wood…). The goods of the two sides are supplementary, so when the AfCFTA is completed, it will be an opportunity for Vietnam to use its competitive advantages to further integrate into the African market, and vice versa. Vietnam will also derive benefits when importing goods and raw materials from the African market. In addition, the investment of Vietnamese enterprises will take advantage of benefits under the AfCFTA such as reducing administration procedures, and preferential tax. However, apart from the opportunities, there are a number of challenges related to the AfCFTA for Vietnam. For example, Vietnamese exports have to fiercely compete with the products of major exporters which are currently more established in the African markets. In the ever-changing region and world, particularly the AfCFTA‘s completion, Vietnam should determine a new approach of cooperation with Africa for their mutual sustainable development and prosperity.

Therefore, it would be necessary to further promote cooperation between Vietnam and African countries in the coming time, some suggestions are as follows:

- Upgrading the traditional and existing the bilateral relations because the relationship between Vietnam and Africa is built on the foundation of mutual trust and love each other which is very worthy;

- Promoting business connection (B2B), exchange the delegation visits, market surveys, exhibitions to exploit existing opportunities, harness new ones, risk management in private trade and investment;

- Building new forms of cooperation, exchanging new business and economic models such as: digital business, circular economy, sharing economy;

- Developing online connection platforms to reduce transaction costs, strongly develop virtual forums, seminars, conferences to exchange information to deeply mutual understand;

- Promoting cooperation in new areas such as renewable energy, digital transformation, response to climate change, initiatives and models to reduce net emissions by 2050;

- Enhancing agricultural cooperation under the tripartite cooperation mechanism (Vietnam - FAO - Africa to help African countries develop agriculture for food security like the model that Vietnam is currently implementing to help Sierra Leone develop agriculture with the financial support of FAO).

This is the third consecutive year when the Institute for African and Middle Eastern Studies (IAMES) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) has organized the Africa Day with meaningful and practical themes to celebrate the Africa Day with African friends, at the same time to improve understanding and information exchange between Vietnam, African countries and the international community. Therefore, the beneficial expansion of the Hybrid Seminar  is great to attract the concern of different stake holders. It’s also the forum for Vietnamese decision makers, officials, academics, researchers, practitioners, businesspeople  and the media to discuss about the significance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the status of its implementation, and ways and means for Vietnam to benefit from the advantages offered by the AfCFTA. The theme of the hybrid seminar reflected the African Union (AU) Theme for 2023 “Year of the AfCFTA: Acceleration of the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade” in contribution to implemting of the Vietnamese Governmental project "Developing ties between Vietnam and the African Union for the period 20121-2025" under the Decision No. 36/QD-TTg dated May 10, 2021.

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Phạm Kim Huế