Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on July 22 received Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora on the sidelines of the ongoing 28 th ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Energy (SOME 28) in Da Lat city of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong .

PM Dung said he was pleased with the developing traditional friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and India in all aspects, including politics, economics, culture and education as well as their close coordination at multilateral forums.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese government will try its utmost to promote the strategic partnership between the two countries.

He also applauded Indian businesses for their expansion of investment in Vietnam , particularly in the field of energy development.

Minister Murli Deora spoke highly of the results of SOME 28 and expressed his wish to foster cooperation with Vietnam in the energy sector in general and oil and gas in particular.

He said Indian businesses highly value the more favourable investment environment in Vietnam and want to expand investments in power and steel projects in the country./.