Vietnam - UAE upgrade relations to Comprehensive Partnership

According to the special correspondent of the Vietnam News Agency, within the framework of the official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on October 28, in Abu Dhabi, after a welcoming ceremony with 21 resounding gun salutes solemnly held at the Presidential Palace, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a short talk with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. On this occasion, the two leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh holds talks with President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

At the meeting, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the UAE, expressing his belief that the visit will strongly promote, create momentum, and open a new phase of cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

The UAE President praised Vietnam's glorious history and development, emphasizing that Vietnam and the UAE have many things to learn from each other and affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of the UAE in Asia and cooperation with Vietnam is one of the UAE's main concerns.

Expressing his joy at his first official visit to the beautiful and hospitable UAE, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked the President, leaders and people of the UAE for their warm and respectful welcome to the delegation; and expressed his admiration for the achievements the UAE has made, turning the UAE into a leading economic, financial and technological center in the region, a “miracle in the desert” in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan expressed their delight at the remarkable developments in bilateral relations, with three main points: political trust and mutual understanding increasingly consolidated and enhanced; economic cooperation increasingly substantive; and closer and more effective cooperation and mutual support at multilateral forums.

On that basis, to meet the aspirations of the leaders and people of the two countries as well as the desire to contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world, the two sides agreed to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership. Thereby, the UAE becomes Vietnam's first Comprehensive Partner in the Middle East, demonstrating the determination and expectations of the leaders of the two countries in bringing the bilateral cooperation to a new level, more sustainable, substantive and effective.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed on six priority areas of cooperation, including urgently developing action programs to be implemented immediately within the framework of the Comprehensive Partnership; promoting cooperation in innovation, green transformation, digital transformation, and circular economy; creating breakthroughs in bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation; cooperating in developing the Halal industry and opening the market for Vietnamese Halal products; enhancing cooperation in labor, culture, tourism, sports, people-to-people exchange; and closely coordinating, consulting, and supporting each other on regional and global issues at multilateral forums. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also asked UAE authorities to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community living and working in the UAE.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan affirmed that he will actively direct relevant UAE agencies to coordinate with the Vietnamese side to implement the results achieved during the visit; expressed his joy at the increasing number of Vietnamese workers working in the UAE and affirmed that he will create conditions for Vietnamese people to settle down in the UAE, support the establishment of the Vietnam Cultural Center in the UAE; affirmed that he will directly direct the implementation of a number of specific projects such as supporting a youth football academy in Vietnam and building a financial center in Ho Chi Minh City.

Discussing the East Sea issue, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the UAE to support the stance of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Vietnam in the East Sea region to ensure peace, security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation, and to resolve disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law, the United Nations Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed President Luong Cuong's respectful invitation to the UAE President to visit Vietnam. The UAE President happily accepted the invitation and said he would make the visit soon.

Source