Promoting rapid negotiations on investment protection agreement between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia

The Prime Minister asked the Saudi Arabian Minister of Investment to promote rapid negotiations on an investment protection agreement between the two countries and exchange experiences to create a favorable, equal and attractive investment environment.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives Saudi Arabian Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

According to a special correspondent of the Vietnam News Agency, during the program of attending the 8th Future Investment Initiative Conference (FII8) and visiting and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the afternoon of October 30 (local time), in the capital Riyadh, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Saudi Arabian Minister of Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih.

Believing that Saudi Arabia will successfully organize the Future Investment Initiative (FII8) Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that during his talks with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, with the spirit of valuing time and intelligence, the two sides agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship, including trade and investment cooperation, connecting the two economies.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the positive results in socio-economic development that Saudi Arabia has achieved in recent times; affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to expanding investment cooperation with the Middle East region, in which Saudi Arabia is one of the top focuses.

In recent times, economic cooperation has been promoted with the total bilateral trade turnover in the first 7 months of 2024 estimated at nearly 4 billion USD, but the results of investment cooperation are not yet commensurate with the potential and expectations of both sides.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the Minister to pay attention to promoting rapid negotiations on the investment protection agreement between the two countries; exchange experiences in creating a favorable, equal and attractive investment and business environment; soon agree with the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment on the content of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation on direct investment and concretize the contents with an action plan, setting out specific goals to promote investment relations between the two countries in the coming time.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabian investment funds, with their capacity, resources and influence, study and participate in implementing key projects in Vietnam's investment call list; including building a center for storing and distributing petroleum products for Southeast Asia in Vietnam and implementing renewable energy projects according to existing plans.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam is currently amending the Electricity Law and related plans to speed up investment procedures in the electricity sector. Vietnam can also ensure food security for Saudi Arabia, meeting Halal standards, with a program of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice...

For his part, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Investment was pleased with the very good personal relationship between Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the agreements reached during the "historic" talks between the two leaders during this visit.

The Minister said that he, the Royal Family and all the people of Saudi Arabia are very impressed with what Vietnam has done, creating a miracle after a fierce war.

According to the Minister, other countries that had to suffer such a disaster would have taken generations to recover, but Vietnam has quickly recovered and developed among the fastest in the world, creating opportunities for people, businesses and investors. In particular, Vietnam has recently come up with alternative solutions to ensure that the global supply chain, including the high-tech supply chain, is not disrupted.

According to Minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, many Saudi Arabian investors such as Zamil Steel Group have been doing business effectively in Vietnam, proving that Vietnam is a stable and attractive place for investors to do long-term business. Saudi Arabian agencies and enterprises are ready to actively discuss with Vietnamese agencies and partners to speed up negotiations, agree on cooperation documents, and implement projects in the areas mentioned by the Prime Minister, including the construction of a center for storing and distributing petroleum products.

The Minister and representatives of major Saudi Arabian enterprises attending the meeting presented opportunities, proposed ideas and cooperation plans in various fields, especially Halal, electricity, digital transformation, and electric vehicle manufacturing.

The leader of ACWA Power Group emphasized that the potential for cooperation between the two countries is still very large as Vietnam is developing very quickly, has a young population, abundant labor force and is a livable place from any perspective; ACWA Power wants to cooperate long-term with Vietnam, including human resource training and is ready to invest 5 billion USD with facilitation from Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged that Vietnam will act faster and respond more promptly to investors’ requests; and welcomed the Saudi Arabian Minister and businesses to visit and work in Vietnam to implement specific cooperation projects.

At the Minister's request, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said he would assign leaders of the Ministry of Planning and Investment to attend the investment promotion conference of Saudi Arabia in the coming time./.

Source