Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed Oman raise the scale of the Vietnam – Oman Investment (VOI) Fund to 1 billion USD while receiving Sheikh Nasser bin Suliman Al Harthi, Deputy President for Operations of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) in Hanoi on May 29.
PM Chinh hailed the OIA Deputy President’s working visit in the context of increasingly strengthened and flourishing Vietnam – Oman relations across many fields, especially in investment and economic cooperation.
Describing Oman as one of the leading potential partners in the Middle East region, he expressed his delight at the positive results of cooperation between Vietnam and the Arabian country, underlining that there remains considerable room for expanding bilateral collaboration.
The PM noted that at the recent 2nd ASEAN – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, he met and exchanged views with the GCC Secretary-General and leaders of the Gulf nations. Both sides highly agreed to promptly start negotiations on a Vietnam – GCC free trade agreement, study investment protection agreements, and promote cooperation in different fields such as digital transformation, renewable energy, financial centres and green economy, high-tech agriculture, and Halal food.
The Vietnamese leader acknowledged and highly valued the pioneering, effective, and strategic role of the Vietnam – Oman Investment Fund during more than 17 years of operations in Vietnam. The fund demonstrates a long-term vision, sustainable investment thinking, and a commitment to accompanying Vietnam’s socio-economic development with a selective, focused, and transparent investment approach.
Emphasising that these investments have not only created economic values but also contributed to improving public services, social infrastructure development, and enhancing people’s quality of life, the PM proposed Oman expand and raise the scale of the fund to 1 billion USD to better support Vietnam’s investment and development needs, in line with its economy’s scale and with interest rates suitable to Vietnam’s conditions.
PM Chinh suggested the fund not only support and invest in strategic fields such as infrastructure transport, clean water, renewable energy, healthcare, education, and consumer finance, but also participate in supporting Vietnam’s private economic development, as well as agriculture and the Halal food sector. He expressed confidence that with strategic partners like Oman, the two countries will build a deeper, more effective, and sustainable cooperation relationship.
For his part, Suliman Al Harthi emphasised Oman’s focus on enhancing cooperation with Vietnam, especially in investment - a highly potential and bright area in the bilateral relations in recent times.
The OIA Deputy President said that the OIA has collaborated with the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to establish the Vietnam new era growth fund with a minimum capital of 200 million USD. He confirmed that the fund will prioritise investment in potential sectors such as technology, telecommunications, finance, Halal agriculture, and digital transformation in Vietnam, contributing to strengthening trade exchange between the two countries.
Agreeing with PM Chinh’s proposal, especially on raising the VOI’s scale, Suliman Al Harthi said Oman can become a gateway for Vietnam to penetrate the Middle East market.
The OIA commits to further strengthening cooperation with Vietnamese partners, ready to play a bridging role in promoting economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, encouraging more Oman and Middle Eastern enterprises to explore cooperation opportunities in Vietnam, as well as calling on Vietnamese businesses to leverage Oman’s port system to boost exports to the Middle East region, he added./.
