In the coming time, with the new development momentum of political and diplomatic relations, the expansion of people-to-people exchange activities, as well as the efforts of ministries, branches, localities and enterprises of the two countries, cooperation in investment and trade between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia will have many significant developments, bringing practical benefits to both businesses and people of the two countries.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung
On the occasion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to attend the 8th Future Investment Initiative Conference and pay a working visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on October 29 and 30, Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung gave an interview to the press about the significance of the visit, strengths in the field of cooperation as well as ways to strengthen bilateral relations. Could you please tell us about the content and significance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Saudi Arabia this time? What will be the highlights of the Prime Minister's activities and work in Saudi Arabia? Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung : On October 29-30, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife will attend the 8th Future Investment Initiative Conference (FII8) and pay a working visit to Saudi Arabia. The visit takes place at a very special time because October is the month when Vietnam and Saudi Arabia celebrate 25 years of bilateral diplomatic relations. This is also the second visit of our Government leader to Saudi Arabia within 12 months. This shows the Prime Minister's special interest in strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia in particular and with countries in the region in general, and reflects the wishes and expectations of the other side in the cooperative relationship with Vietnam. I believe that the Prime Minister's visit is an important new milestone in the bilateral relationship and will certainly create a new momentum to strongly promote the relationship between the two countries in the coming time. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's activities during this visit are quite dense, focusing on orientations and measures to promote investment, economic, labor relations... between the two countries. One of the most important activities of the Prime Minister in Saudi Arabia is to attend and speak at the 8th Future Investment Initiative Conference (FII8) on the prospects for economic and investment cooperation between Vietnam and the Middle East region. During the visit, the two Prime Ministers are expected to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in all areas, including economics - trade, labor cooperation, information technology and communications such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, people-to-people exchange, culture, tourism, etc. A number of Memorandums of Understanding and documents expected to be signed during the visit will contribute to perfecting the legal framework for the bilateral relationship to develop more smoothly. In addition, ministries, branches and businesses of the two sides will have many opportunities to work and connect with each other effectively and substantially. I believe that this visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will open up many new aspects of cooperation in the bilateral relationship in the coming time. How does the Ambassador assess the prospects for cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia in various fields? What are the strengths for the two countries to continue to promote in the coming time? Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung : I believe that the two countries still have a lot of room for development, especially in the fields of politics - diplomacy, trade, investment, energy, and labor. As I mentioned above, the documents in the fields of energy, economy, labor cooperation, etc. signed during this visit will create a legal framework for bilateral relations to develop more smoothly in the future. Saudi Arabia is currently one of Vietnam's leading economic partners in the Middle East, with bilateral trade turnover in 2023 reaching nearly 2.7 USD. In the first 9 months of this year, two-way trade turnover reached 2.21 billion USD, of which Vietnam had a trade surplus of over 140 million USD. I have high expectations for trade cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia in the future. The specific agreements that have been and will be reached will help increase the export turnover of agricultural products, aquatic products, food, garments, furniture, handicrafts to the market, especially superior and breakthrough technology products. Vietnamese enterprises are increasingly interested and proactive in finding partners and outlets for their products in the Saudi Arabian market. Many enterprises also directly go to the locality to promote and introduce products, participate in international fairs and exhibitions... in the locality to plan to penetrate and develop market share in this potential market. Dear Ambassador, what specific cooperation mechanisms do the two countries need to promote to further strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations? Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung : Currently, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia have basic cooperation mechanisms to review and promote bilateral relations such as the Joint Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, Political Consultation between the two Foreign Ministries. These mechanisms have played an important role in strengthening the relationship between the two countries in the fields of cooperation such as politics - diplomacy, trade, investment, science and technology, labor, tourism, etc. In addition to the existing double taxation avoidance agreement, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia have been continuing to improve and consolidate cooperation mechanisms, agreements and memorandums of understanding at the government level as well as at the ministerial and sectoral levels to further improve the legal framework for bilateral relations, creating more favorable conditions for localities and businesses in economic and trade cooperation with Saudi Arabia. In fact, cooperation in the economic and trade fields is one of the bright spots in the relationship between the two countries. Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the co-chair of the bilateral Joint Committee, so it plays a very important role in setting out the direction for cooperation development in this field, and periodically reviewing and monitoring the implementation of specific measures to promote stronger bilateral cooperation, especially in the field of Halal industry development in Vietnam according to the Project "Strengthening international cooperation to build and develop Vietnam's Halal industry by 2030". However, I think that in order to further strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations, in addition to existing mechanisms, we need to consider establishing other cooperation mechanisms, such as establishing the Vietnam - Saudi Arabia Business Council, where businesses of both sides operating in the same field can directly connect, explore investment and cooperation opportunities. I believe that in the coming time, with the new momentum of political and diplomatic relations, the expansion of people-to-people exchange activities, as well as the efforts of ministries, branches, localities and businesses of the two countries, cooperation in investment and trade between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia will have many significant developments, bringing practical benefits to both businesses and people of the two countries. Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/cot-moc-moi-quan-trong-trong-quan-he-viet-nam-saudi-arabia-102241028160403239.htm
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