Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son hosted a reception on October 24 for Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Khaleel who is in Hanoi for the Signing Ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (Hanoi Convention).
Son expressed his appreciation for Khaleel's attendance on behalf of the Maldivian government at the convention signing ceremony and thanked the island nation for its steadfast support and close cooperation throughout Vietnam's hosting of this international event.
The Deputy PM praised the sound friendship between the two countries over the past five decades, acknowledging Maldives’ consistent backing for Vietnam both bilaterally and at multilateral forums of the UN, most recently its support for Vietnam’s election to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 tenure. Abdulla Khaleel, for his part, praised Vietnam's role as the host of the signing ceremony, emphasising the significance of the UN's first-ever convention addressing cybercrime. He expressed gratitude for the warm and thoughtful reception extended by Vietnamese authorities during his visit.
Describing Vietnam as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, he stressed that two nations have shared many similarities as they are maritime countries with long coastlines and extensive exclusive economic zones. He underscored their common interests in maintaining regional peace and stability, and in addressing non-traditional security challenges such as climate change and rising sea levels.
Both sides concurred to establish a dialogue mechanism between the two foreign ministries soon, accelerate the signing of cooperation agreements across areas to create legal foundations for advancing collaboration in key potential areas, including trade, tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, aquatic product processing, agriculture, and construction.
The Maldivian diplomat expressed interest in sending Maldivian business delegations to Vietnam to learn from its expertise in aquaculture and seafood processing. Maldives is ready to share experience in its flagship sectors such as tuna fishing and processing as well as tourism development, he said, calling on Vietnamese enterprises to explore investment opportunities in building tourism infrastructure and accommodation facilities in Maldives - a sector of great potential and strong profitability.
Son and Khaleel agreed to bolster people-to-people exchanges through encouraging airlines to open direct routes and putting in place policies facilitating travel for citizens and businesses of both sides.
They affirmed to strengthen cooperation and support each other at multilateral forums, especially backing each other’s candidacies for key UN bodies./.
VNA
