Vietnam, Malaysia play indispensable role in ASEAN: Malaysian expert

At the welcome ceremony for Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Both Vietnam and Malaysia play an important and indispensable role in ASEAN, including in the fields of economy, diplomacy and security, said Collins Chong Yew Keat, an expert on policy and foreign affairs at the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Talking with Vietnam News Agency in Kuala Lumpur, Collins said the Vietnam-Malaysia relationship has been increasingly stepped up in all fields, including diplomacy, economy and national defence-security, especially since the establishment of bilateral strategic partnership in 2015.

Amid the current developments in the region and the world, he said the Vietnam visit by Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim from July 20-21 held significance, aiming to continue strengthening long-standing friendship and partnership with Vietnam. He suggested that in the near future, both countries should reinforce collaboration to ensure stable supply chains, food security, the development of green economy, digital economy, and other industries.

He stressed that economic cooperation is one of the important areas for both countries, particularly amid complicated developments in the region and the world, especially during the post-COVID-19 period.

According to him, Vietnam was Malaysia's second largest trade partner in ASEAN last year. Therefore, both countries are well-positioned to further bolster their coordination, especially in the fields of technology, semiconductors, digital economy, green economy, and other areas related to national defence-security. He mentioned Malaysia's current strengths in several areas such as electronics, Halal products, palm oil, and particularly energy - all of which are essential for Vietnam's economic development.

Regarding national defence-security, he held that that both countries need to enhance cooperation to address common challenges in maritime affairs, especially by jointly promoting and concluding a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), which will be one of the priorities in bilateral cooperation in the future./.