This emerged following talks between President William Ruto’s special envoy and Defence CS Soipan Tuya and Vietnam President Lương Cường, in Hanoi.
“To facilitate connectivity and collaboration, both sides concurred to explore establishing diplomatic missions in each country, and to negotiate and sign cooperation documents in such areas as trans-national crime prevention, agriculture, and science–technology,” Voice of Vietnam said.
Hanoi is covered by Kenya’s embassy in Bangkok, while Nairobi is covered by Vietnam’s mission in Tanzania.
Tuya had also met Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Min Chinh and discussed areas of cooperation to deepen diplomatic relations.
She delivered a letter from President Ruto to PM Chính, expressing Kenya’s desire to further enhance its cooperation with Vietnam.
Tuya said they discussed subjects of mutual interest to Kenya and Vietnam in furtherance of the MoU on Diplomatic and Political Consultations.
The MoU was signed in Nairobi in February this year.
President Cuong proposed that the two states enhance cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, and tourism, which he noted has untapped potential.
He also called for expanded defence cooperation in the defence industry, logistics, military medicine, and UN peacekeeping operations.
Cuong also called on Kenya to support Vietnam in strengthening ties with the African Union and other regional organisations.
PM Chinh suggested the two nations intensify delegation exchanges, and expand cooperation in defence and security, trade, education and training, clean agriculture, food security, and people-to-people exchanges, especially among younger generations, among other fields.
Tuya is in Hanoi for the fourth Session of the Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit.
“The varied areas of potential cooperation between Kenya and Vietnam include, but are not limited to, defence, combating transnational organised crime, food security, education, and the deployment of technology in climate resilient green growth initiatives,” Tuya said in a statement.
On his part, President Cường said Vietnam values and wishes to deepen “the friendship and multifaceted cooperation” with Kenya.
He added that Tuya’s attendance at the conference shows Kenya’s strong commitment to development issues and contributes to the success of the summit.
According to the Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya is particularly keen to partner with Vietnam in defence cooperation.
Other areas of cooperation are manufacturing, universal health coverage, affordable housing and food security, sectors that underpin the Asian country’s growing economy that attained an impressive 7.09 per cent growth last year.
“Also discussed was the need for concerted global efforts to tackle the growing challenge of transnational organised crimes as well as Vietnam’s support for Kenya’s desire to host the Global Plastics Treaty Secretariat at UNEP in Nairobi,” KDF said in a statement.
On multilateral collaboration, the President asked Kenya to act as a bridge to support Vietnam in strengthening relations with the AU and regional organisations of which Kenya is a member.
To facilitate connectivity and collaboration, the two sides agreed to explore establishing diplomatic missions in each other’s capital, and to negotiate and sign cooperation documents in such areas as transnational crime prevention.
However, the CS did not indicate whether the case of Margaret Nduta, the Kenyan facing execution in Vietnam, was discussed.
