An inter-Governmental meeting on Vietnam-United Arabian Emirates (UAE) cooperation closed in Hanoi on November 25 with an overwhelming consensus on a wide range of issues.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said the two sides agreed to support the Vietnam Oil and Gas Industrial Group ( PetroVietnam) and its partners from the UAE, to facilitate trading in petroleum and LPG as well as oil and gas exploration, exploitation and processing. The UAE promised it will consider the provision of long-term and stable supplies of oil and gas products for Vietnam .

In regard to trade, the two sides agreed to exchange further information, encourage their businesses to attend trade fairs, expositions and other trade promotion activities held in each country. Vietnam offered long-term and stable supply of food and foodstuffs for the UAE.

This is all aimed at increased bilateral trade revenues to match the potential of the two countries, said Hoang, who co-chaired the meeting.

In terms of investment and finance, participants agreed to encourage businesses from the UAE to invest in Vietnam in oil and gas, energy, infrastructure and civil construction, tourism and real estate development.

Other areas of cooperation, ranging from agriculture to air cargo, labour export, education, culture, tourism, construction and relations between trade promotion agencies were also discussed.

The UAE expressed interest in signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the two ministries of finance on technical cooperation, exchange of information and experience in financial management.

The two sides emphasised a need to launch negotiations on cooperation in fighting money laundering.

Addressing the closing session, UAE Minister of Economy Saeed Al Mansoori, who co-chaired the event, lauded Vietnam ’s initiative on this first inter-Governmental meeting. He expressed his expectation that economic cooperation between the two countries will develop steadily in line with concrete guidelines and solutions reached at the meeting.

The Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade took this opportunity to hand over to the UAE minister a proposal for UAE’s recognition of Vietnam ’s full market economy status.

Hoang said the UAE is Vietnam ’s second largest market in the Middle East . Two-way trade revenue reached 498 million USD in 2009, with Vietnam enjoying a trade surplus of 220 million USD. Bilateral trade revenue is expected to increase to 630 million USD in 2010.

The three-day meeting was the first of its kind and aimed to establish an inter-Governmental committee of cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE in furtherance of an agreement signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during his visit to the Middle East nation in February, 2009./.