Nigeria and Vietnam would collaborate in health sector, Nigerian Health Minister Eyitayo Lambo said in Abuja on Thursday.

Meeting with a visiting Vietnamese trade delegation led by Vietnamese Vice Minister of Trade Do Nhu Ding, Lambo said Nigeria and Vietnam would set up a joint committee comprising officials from both countries to discuss specifics of the collaboration and come up with a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the purpose.

He said Nigeria "is interested in attracting Vietnamese drug manufacturing companies that are willing to establish factories in the country."

He added that Nigeria was also keen on having foreign health workers that would like to work in the rural areas, since it was becoming difficult to find local professionals willing to do so. According to the Nigerian health minister, Nigeria no longer relies on importation of medicines due to the high foreign exchange demand for such transactions.

Lambo assured the delegation that Vietnam could do good businesses in Nigeria's health sector, since it would be possible for them to go beyond the federal ministry or the federal government.

He said the governments in the nation's 36 states were at liberty to buy drugs from abroad as well as engage the services of foreign health workers.

Lambo said through exchange of health information and in the spirit of south-south cooperation, both Nigeria and Vietnam would benefit from each other.

With a population of over 130 million, Nigeria was a huge market, Lambo said, adding that dealings with Nigeria could further open business doors in West Africa, since Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, is an important transport hub in the sub- region.

Source: Xinhua