New Delhi (VNA) – Prime Minister Le Minh Hung received Saudi Arabian Minister Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on September 13 on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India.
The PM congratulated Saudi Arabia on its achievements in political, socio-economic and other fields, which have helped enhance the country’s role and position in the region and the world. He conveyed greetings from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam’s greetings and invitation to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to pay a visit to Vietnam at an early date.
Affirming that Saudi Arabia is one of Vietnam’s most important partners in the Middle East, PM Hung expressed his pleasure at the positive development of bilateral relations in recent years, and voiced his wish to work with Saudi Arabia to further develop the bilateral relationship in a more effective and substantive manner, for the benefit of the two countries' people.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, head of the Saudi Arabian delegation to the summit, said that he is impressed by Vietnam’s development achievements. He noted that although bilateral relations have made important strides, they have yet to match the potential and strengths of the two countries. Prince Faisal affirmed that Saudi Arabia attaches importance to Vietnam’s role and wishes to further develop bilateral ties in a more substantive and effective manner.
PM Hung proposed that the two countries continue to strengthen political trust through exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level visits, and step up energy cooperation. Vietnam supports Saudi Arabia’s proposal to establish a bilateral working group to discuss in detail cooperation in energy reserves and specific joint projects.
The PM also called on the two sides to promote trade cooperation and market opening, and asked Saudi Arabia to lift its temporary suspension of imports of Vietnam’s farmed seafood, support Vietnam in developing its Halal industry, and increase investment in Vietnam in such fields as energy, technology and infrastructure.
Strongly agreeing with the directions put forward by the Vietnamese leader, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud pledged that he will immediately coordinate with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant Saudi Arabian agencies to translate these orientations into practical outcomes.
He added that he will coordinate with his country’s Ministry of Energy to soon discuss energy cooperation with Vietnam, and proposed that the two governments facilitate stronger direct connectivity between their businesses./.
