Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s participation in the 8th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) and working visit to Saudi Arabia on October 29-30 form a new and significant milestone in bilateral relations and impetus for ties in the time ahead, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung.
He told the Vietnam News Agency that the trip takes place in October, as Vietnam and Saudi Arabia are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. The visit reflects the PM’s special attention to the enhancement of connections with Saudi Arabia in particular and Gulf countries in general, as well as Saudi Arabia’s expectations of cooperation with Vietnam.
The PM’s schedule during the visit is quite hectic, focusing on orientations and measures for fostering bilateral investment, economic, and labour ties between the two countries, Dung noted.
During his stay in Saudi Arabia, Chinh will attend and deliver remarks on the economic and investment cooperation prospects between Vietnam and the Middle East.
The PMs will discuss the expansion of bilateral collaboration in all fields, including economy - trade, labour, information and communication technology, people-to-people exchanges, culture, and tourism.
The ambassador went on to say that Vietnam and Saudi Arabia boast considerable room for further development, especially in terms of politics - diplomacy, trade, investment, energy, and labour. Agreements covering energy, the economy, and labour cooperation are to be signed during the visit, providing a more favourable legal framework for their relations to grow.
Saudi Arabia is currently one of the leading economic partners of Vietnam in the Middle East, with bilateral trade approximating 2.7 billion USD in 2023. The figure stood at 2.21 billion USD in the first nine months of 2024, with Vietnam posting a trade surplus of over 140 million USD.
The diplomat said he has high expectations for future trade collaboration between the two countries, adding the recent agreements are set to boost the exports of agricultural, fishery, food, apparel, furniture, and handicraft products, along with state-of-the-art technological devices from Vietnam to Saudi Arabia.
He perceived that with the growth of political - diplomatic relations, the expansion of people-to-people exchanges, as well as efforts by ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses of both sides, investment and trade partnerships between the two countries will enjoy substantial strides, generating tangible benefits for their businesses and people./.
