A Vietnam National Assembly delegation led by chairman Nguyen Van An arrived in Algeria on Friday for an official friendship visit to the country which is the first stop in his tour of North African nations.

As scheduled, Mr An will have talks with Speaker of the Algerian People?s National Assembly Amar Saadani, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouahia and other government officials.

Vietnam and Algeria established their diplomatic relations in 1962 and over the past 40 years, bilateral relations have been developing well. Since 1982, bilateral co-operation have focused on the areas of healthcare, science and education. However, in recent times, two-way trade value only reached US$30 million a year. Vietnam and Algeria have signed a number of co-operation agreements to promote investment protection and double tax avoidance. They have also set up a joint committee for inter-Governmental co-operation. Algeria, which has great potential in petroleum and gas, is considered a promising market abounding in development opportunities for Vietnam.
Mr An's visit to Algeria is of great significance, as it aims to boost co-operative relations between the two legislative bodies and strengthen Vietnam?s international position.

The same day, Mr An met with representatives of the Vietnam Investment and Oil and Gas Exploration and Exploitation Company and the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria.