Seafood is one of Vietnamese export products to Mali (Photo: congthuong.vn)
Vietnam and Mali established diplomatic relations on October 30th, 1960. The two sides signed the Agreement on Economic, Trade, Culture and Science and Technology Cooperation in 1994. However, they have not had many exchanges of delegations. The Vietnamese Ambassador presented credentials to the President of Mali in March 2018.
In the field of agriculture, in the 1960s, Vietnam sent a number of experts in education, health, agriculture, banking and handicrafts to work in Mali. From 2005 to 2009, there were 12 Vietnamese agricultural experts working in Mali under the four-party agreement (Vietnam - France - FAO - Mali) on the Sustainable Development Program of Yélimane Region (Mali), which was appreciated by the Mali President.
In terms of trade, Vietnam's exports to Mali reached USD38.9 million in 2019, an increase of nearly 11 times against 2018, with the main export items including crude oil (USD27 million), cement (USD 10.5 million), seafood, pepper, rice and plastic products. Meanwhile, Vietnam's import turnover from Mali reached USD28.49 million, up 24% compared to 2018. The main import items include cotton (USD28 million), cashew nuts, copper, computers, and iron and steel products.
Mali, a West African country, is among the 25 poorest countries in the world with a population of 20 million people. Its main industry is agricultural product processing.
The country’s average growth rate in the past 3 years was about 5.5%. Mali export turnover in 2018 reached USD2.79 billion (mainly cotton, gold, livestock products). Its main export partners are Switzerland, China, India and Bangladesh. Import turnover was estimated at USD2.9 billion (mainly oil, machinery, equipment, food, textile), with importing partners including Ivory Coast, France, Senegal and China.
Mali is a member of the African Union (AU), the Francophonie, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and many other international organizations./.