A series of important memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed on September 4 between Vietnamese officials and UAE partners, remarking the new height in the two sides’ bilateral relations, particularly trade and investment ties, state media said on September 5.
They include a MoU on cooperation in standard and measurement field, and three MoUs on boosting cooperation between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the UAE Commission for Securities and Commodities and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry.
The signing was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Maktoum, who is now leading the UAE high-ranking delegation in the first official visit to Vietnam.
Earlier, the UAE PM talked with the host PM on the two sides’ friendship relations and cooperation in various fields such as infrastructure, transport, petroleum, labor training, tourism and real estate.
The two leaders agreed that the two nations should strengthen diplomatic exchanges as a method to boost economic, trade cooperation.
Sheikh Mohammed affirmed that there will have a flow of UAE investment into the Vietnamese market in the upcoming time.
The PM Dung, for his part, pledged to create favorable conditions for UAE investors who are working or intending to do business in Vietnam. He also relayed to his counterpart the decision to upgrade the Vietnamese consulate in Dubai to an embassy.
In the evening of the same day, Sheikh Mohammed and entourage met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet.
The oil-rich UAE is now considered among Vietnam’s potential markets in the Middle Eastern region, essentially in labor and commodities export, oil exploration and exploitation cooperation.
Shaikha Lubna al Qasimi, UAE economic minister who is now accompanying the PM Sheikh, affirmed the UAE will open its door to help Vietnam’s export commodities easily penetrate into the European and African markets.
Meanwhile, UAE investors seem to be bewitched in front of business opportunities in the Southeast Asian nation. Sabah al Shammery, President of Dubai-based Sapco Group recently said that if having suitable foreign investment policies, Vietnam is able to lure 50 per cent of the Middle Eastern region’s outbound investment capital.
Vietnam and the UAE signed an agreement on cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology in 1999.
The two-way trade reached US$185 million in 2006 and US$166 million in first seven months of this year. (Local sources, Website of CPV)
Vietnamese
