This is the Malaysian Government leader’s first tour to Vietnam since he took office in August 2021.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed the significance of his counterpart's visit, which he said will create a new momentum for the Vietnam-Malaysia cooperation.

The two leaders agreed to work to raise two-way trade to 18 billion USD or even higher by 2025, and step up the trading of goods of their strength such as agricultural and aquatic products, Halal products and electronic components.

PM Chinh suggested Malaysian firms step up investment in support industries, high-quality infrastructure, innovation, high-tech and IT application in digital transformation in Vietnam.

The two PMs held that cooperation in national defence and security has brought about pragmatic results. They consented to push for the early signing of a memorandum of understanding on bilateral defence collaboration, and enhance cyber security and maritime cooperation.

Both welcomed the mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccine passports, which will facilitate the travelling of the two countries’ people, especially when Vietnam fully opened its doors to international visitors from March 15, and Malaysia will open its borders from April 1.

Following their talks, the PMs witnessed the exchange of a number of cooperation documents, including a cooperation agreement between the Vietnam News Agency and Malaysian National News Agency./.

VNA