Vietnam and South Africa are set to ink a deal to prevent rhino poaching and the illicit trade in rhino horns. AFP quoted an official of the wildlife trade monitoring network (TRAFFIC), saying a memorandum of understanding between South Africa, home of the largest rhino population in the world, and Vietnam, the biggest consumer market, will be signed soon. At the launch of a report in Johannesburg on August 20, Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's head of rhino and elephants project, announced the news and expressed hope that the MoU will make some changes in halting the illicit trade. Mavuso Msimang, a South African official, also stressed the importance of cooperation between the two countries in an attempt to stop the export of rhino horns to Vietnam. Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh held talks over illegal wildlife hunting, trade and trafficking with his South African counterpart Ebrahim Ebrahim in Johannesburg last week. South Africa is home to about three quarters of Africa's 20,000 or so white rhinos and 4,800 critically endangered black rhinos. Almost 300 rhinos have been poached across the country since the start of the year. Their horns are suspected to have been smuggled out to Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, AFP reported. VOV