At the meeting, Mr Triet thanked President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the Algerian people for their kind regard towards his delegation and the Vietnamese people over the past few years.

The Vietnamese people always do their best to develop ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Despite the geographical distance, both countries which have many things in common, have maintained a close relationship. Currently, both countries focus on economic development to improve people’s living standards through effective cooperation in every field, Mr Triet stressed. Consequently, apart from the oil and gas industry, Mr Triet underlined the need to promote trade and expand bilateral cooperation in agriculture, healthcare, education and construction. Through Algeria, Vietnam can achieve deeper penetration into the African market and through Vietnam, Algeria can enter the Southeast Asian market.

The Algerian leaders expressed their deep feeling about the Vietnamese people and thanked them for winning the victory at Dien Bien Phu which helped the Algerian people and other African countries gain national independence. They confirmed that Algeria always looks towards its traditional friends, including Vietnam, to learn from their experiences in agriculture and construction. Algeria is keen to sign a transport agreement with Vietnam to facilitate the exchange of goods as soon as possible and ensure the upcoming session of the inter-government committee will achieve a good result.

The same day, Speaker of the Algerian Parliament Abdelkader Bensalah hosted a banquet in honour of Mr Triet and his delegation.