Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh shakes hands with Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan bin Kassim. (Photo: VNA) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – A ceremony took place inKuala Lumpur on March 26 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of theVietnam-Malaysia diplomatic ties (March 30, 1973).
The event was attended by Minister in the PrimeMinister’s Department Shahidan bin Kassim and Deputy Secretary General forBilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nushirwan Bin ZainalAbidin from Malaysia alongside Vietnamese expats in Malaysia and businessleaders from both countries.
In his remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le QuyQuynh said he was pleased with significant outcomes the two countries have obtainedover the past 45 years in all areas, from politics-diplomacy, security-defence,and economics to education, culture and tourism.
With regard to politics, Vietnam and Malaysia havemaintained regular exchange of visits at all levels, he said, mentioning trips toMalaysia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Do Muoi (1994),President Tran Duc Luong (1998), Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (1998), PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung (2007 and 2015). Meanwhile, Malaysian top leaders –King Tuanku Jaafar, King Mizan Zainal Abidin and PM Najib Razak – paid visitsto Vietnam in 1995, 2009 and 2014, respectively. The two nations lifted theirties to Strategic Partnership in August, 2015, he added.
Substantial progress has been seen in trade andinvestment in the last four decades. Malaysia is now Vietnam’s 8th largest tradepartner and ranks 7th out of 125 foreign investors in Vietnam. The two-waytrade exceeded 10 billion USD in 2017 and is expected to hit 15 billion USD by2020 while cooperation in the fields like tourism, education andscience-technology are flourishing, the ambassador said.
For their part, Minister Shahidan bin Kassim and DeputySecretary General for Bilateral Affairs Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin highlyspoke of what Vietnam and Malaysia have achieved since they set up diplomaticties 45 years ago. They shared a view that the bilateral ties have benefitednot only the two countries but also ASEAN, and there is potential for them tocontinue to unlock.
They expected that the ties would grow further in thetime ahead to benefit their people and to consolidate peace, stability andprosperity regionally and globally.-VNA
VNA
