Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha addresses the ceremony (Photo: VNA) Along with regular exchanges and meetings, cooperation mechanisms between the two countries have been maintained in a flexible and effective manner, while mutual political trust has been fostered, Ha said at a recent ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Malaysia in Hanoi.
Reviewing major milestones in the bilateral relations, including the establishment of a strategic partnership in 2015, he noted that economic, trade and investment collaboration has been the key pillar and motivation for the bilateral ties.
Malaysia is now the second largest trade partner of Vietnam among ASEAN countries. Two-way trade has continuously risen recently despite impacts of COVID-19, reaching nearly 15 billion USD in 2022, up 17% year on year.
Malaysia is also the second largest among ASEAN investors in Vietnam, and ranks 10th among 40 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with a total capital of 13 billion USD.
Particularly, the Vietnam visit by Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim in July marked an important milestone in the strategic partnership between the two countries, Ha emphasised.
Phan Anh Son, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations spotlighted the important role of people-to-people exchange between the two countries.
He said that about 45,000 Vietnamese people are living, working and studying in Malaysia.
For his part, Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam Dato' Tan Yang said that Malaysia and Vietnam have shared a warm and solid relationship, underpinned by both sides' resolute commitments to strengthening bilateral relations for the benefit of their people and the region at large.
The ambassador affirmed that Malaysia considers Vietnam as an important partner, not only within ASEAN but also in the multilateral arena./.
VNA
