The South-South Cooperation initiative was launched in 1996 within the framework of the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS). The principal objective is to promote solidarity among the developing countries and to allow the recipient countries to benefit from the relevant experience and expertise of more advanced developing countries in the area of food production. The initiative is intended to encourage the provision of technical assistance from more advanced developing countries to specific recipient countries participating in the SPFS. Existing attempts at facilitating cooperation amongst developing countries have been only partially successful. The limited success is primarily attributed to the lack of financial support in funding transportation costs, allowances, research and feasibility studies and general implementation. The South-South Cooperation initiative seeks to address these shortcomings by combining the FAO, bilateral and multi-lateral support to the developing countries participating in the SPFS.

Under the South-South scheme, technical assistance is comprised of a combination of a few senior staff and a sizeable number of technicians with extensive practical field experience in agriculture. The team works directly with farmers in the rural communities involved in the SPFS. The duration of assignment for the mission is approximately two to three years. It is anticipated that the team will introduce the improved practices of sustainable and replicable agricultural development. In parallel, the team will serve as a stimulus for constructive changes within the communities to which they are assigned. Notably, the South-South Cooperation shares some similarities in its rationale with the Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC). Yet, it is important to accentuate the differences between the two schemes. The South-South Cooperation aims at fielding a significant number of experts (up to approximately one hundred) in order to create a critical mass, and thereby maximizing its impact. By contrast, the TCDC experts are assigned in small numbers on consulting assignments of a short duration.

Vietnam has been active in providing experts and field technicians to several countries under the South-South Cooperation initiative. To date, Vietnam has sent experts and technicians to numerous countries in Africa. Moreover, it is acknowledged that Vietnam has considerable potential to expand its involvement in the South-South Cooperation programme. Going forward the Vietnamese Government has expressed the desire to include Anglophone countries amongst its recipients of technical support, as an increasing number of Vietnamese experts possess a strong command of the English language.

More specifically, on the basis of the 1996 tripartite agreement with Senegal, the Vietnamese Government has sent in excess of 260 experts in the period between 1996 and 2005. A similar arrangement was established with Benin in 1998, with the current South-South Cooperation participants in the country comprising 4 experts and 14 technicians. In addition, the same type of activities under the South-South Coperation were setup between Vietnam and Madagascar, Republic of Congo and the Republic of Mali. In 2008 Namibia is the latest African country to express its interest in engaging with Vietnam under the framework of the South-South Cooperation. At present, a project is being launched mainly in relation to aquaculture development.

Tripartite agreements signed