Vietnamese Ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Manh Tuan (Third, left) at an event to introduce Vietnamese agricultural products in the UAE. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA)- Economic cooperation has always been a crucial pillar and bright spot in thebilateral relationship between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), VietnameseAmbassador to the UAE Nguyen Manh Tuan told the Vietnam News Agency.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties (August 1, 1993-2023), the diplomat said that the UAE has identified the ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as one of the three priority pillars in economic cooperation withVietnam until 2030.
The two countriesofficially kicked off the negotiations on the agreement in April this year and pledgedto sign the trade pact as soon as possible. Once signed, it will be the largestand most comprehensive agreement, and a major milestone in the cooperativerelationship between Vietnam and the UAE, opening a new phase in strategic tradeand investment cooperation between the two nations.
CEPA is expected to elevate bilateral relations and economic collaborationin particular in a practical and comprehensive manner, helping Vietnam expand theexport of goods and services to the UAE, and creating a premisefor Vietnam to strengthen trade and service relations with Middle East andAfrican countries. It will also promote the UAE’s investment in Vietnamand expand cooperation opportunities to potential fields such as innovation,renewable energy, investment, logistics, technology, tourism, and agriculture.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Manh Tuan (Photo: VNA) The UAE is the largest trade partner of Vietnam in the Middle East – North Africaregion. It is also the seventh biggest importer of Vietnamese goods. In2022, Vietnam's export turnover to the UAE increased 27.5 times compared to that in 2006. The country now is the UAE's biggest trade partner in Southeast Asia.
There remains big room for the two countriesto further boost economic relations on the basis of the complementary strengthsof the two economies, Ambassador Tuan said.
He also highlightedthe flourishing development in the bilateral friendship and cooperation acrossfields from politics and diplomacy to trade, investment, labour andtourism.
Political trust and mutual understandingbetween the two countries have been continuously strengthened through the regularexchange of delegations at all levels between the two countries over the recent times,he added.
The visit to the UAEby Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan in May 2023 created a new impetus forbilateral relations. The UAE side has actively implemented new cooperation proposalsthrough the visits to Vietnam by Minister ofState for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi and Foreign Minister SheikhAbdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in June.
At present, there are about 3,500 Vietnameselabourers working in the UAE. As planned, Vietnam will send over 100,000skilled workers to the UAE in the near future.
The Vietnamese Embassyin the UAE will exert efforts and seek solutions to address difficulties facing tradeand investment relations between the two countries, thus benefiting businesses of both sides,Ambassador Tuan said.
The embassy will givepriority to promoting promising fields, including trade and investmentcooperation in energy, agriculture, infrastructure, finance, logistics, labour,and tourism, towards further deepening the bilateral relations, he added.
The diplomat said thetwo countries have coordinated to organise activities to celebrate the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2023, including the exchange of delegations,art performance programmes, and people-to-people exchange activities./.
