Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, his wife and entourage left Hanoi on August 13 for Singapore, Myanmar and Brunei to boost regional cooperation, especially economic, trade and investment ties, said local media.
This is part of his trip to five ASEAN countries. Earlier Dung already visited Indonesia and the Philippines.
The trip from August 13-16 was made at the invitations of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Myanmar Prime Minister Soe Win, and King of Brunei Hassannal Bolkia.
Dung was accompanied by the ministers of foreign affairs, natural resources & environment, and culture, sports & tourism, the deputy ministers of finance, planning & investment, education & training, trade & industry, and labor, war invalid & social affairs, the chairmen of the provincial people’s committees of Phu Yen, Thua Thien Hue, Bac Ninh and Haiphong, and the chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and some other government officials.
Vietnam and Singapore set up diplomatic ties in 1973. However, after its entry into ASEAN Vietnam has become one of the key trade and investment partners of Singapore in the region. Particularly, during the visit by Former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in March 2004, the two countries signed a joint statement on comprehensive cooperation framework for the 21st century. In December 2005, Vietnam and Singapore officially signed a framework agreement on the linking of their economies.
In the first seven months of 2007, Singapore stood at second position among foreign investors in Vietnam after South Korea.
Myanmar is a full member of ASEAN, WTO, NAM and the UN, and attaches special attention to developing relations with neighboring and regional countries. Agriculture brings about 40 per cent of the total export turnover of the country.
Vietnam and Myanmar officially established diplomatic ties in 1975. They target to increase their bilateral trade to US$100 million this year from US$23.4 million in the first four months of the year and US$40 million in 2004. Vietnam mainly exports consumer goods, pharmaceutical products and electricity equipment, while importing timber from Myanmar.
The two nations already agreed to enhance cooperation in trade, agriculture, forestry and fishery, industry, healthcare, tourism, ports & telecom, and aviation. They also set up a joint trade committee and held trade fairs annually.
Brunei is now the third biggest petroleum producer of the Southeast Asian region after Indonesia and Malaysia, and the fourth biggest liquefied gas producer of the world.
Vietnam and Brunei established diplomatic relations in February 1992. However, economic ties between the two nations are modest, with a two-way trade turnover of US$1.5-2 million each year.
In May last year the Brunei Royal Airlines opened a direct air route to HCM City, the largest commercial hub of Vietnam. The two countries already signed a trade agreement, a maritime deal, and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation, and another MoU between the two chambers of commerce & industry. (The People, Website of Government & Party)
Vietnamese
