Hanoi (VNA)꧒ – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has concluded his successful working trip to three Middle East countries - the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar from October 27 to November 1 at the invitation of the UAE President, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, and Qatari Prime Minister.

Late last year, Chinh made working trips to attend international meetings and conduct bilateral activities in Middle East countries. Those trips were considered the opening step for a new phase in relations between Vietnam and Middle East countries. So, his latest tour of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar is a favourable prelude to a period of acceleration and breakthrough in the ties between Vietnam and the three countries.

Mindset, vision, time, intelligence

During the six-day tour, the PM had a various, substantive and effective working programme with nearly 60 activities, including talks and meetings senior leaders of countries, working sessions with leaders of ministries, organisations, major groups and funds of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. At the talks and meetings, leaders of these nations welcomed the Vietnamese PM with many special exceptions, indicating that they highly valued their relationships with Vietnam in their "Look East" policy and regarded Vietnam as a key partner in Southeast Asia. The leaders of the three countries agreed to strongly promote relations with Vietnam, considering it a gateway for countries to enter Southeast Asia, and from the three countries, Vietnam can expand cooperation with countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, Vietnam and the UAE upgraded their relations to a Comprehensive Partnership and signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Vietnam and Saudi Arabia and Qatar agreed to soon promote upgrading relations to new heights. According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, the visits by the PM to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have created new momentum, opening up many cooperation opportunities between Vietnam and the three countries in new areas. In addition to traditional, fundamental fields such as politics, diplomacy, defence, security, labour, oil and gas, agriculture, education and training, tourism, people-to-people exchange, they have identified additional pillars of future cooperation in economics, trade, and investment, with emerging sectors such as innovation, green transition, digital transformation, and Halal industry development.

During the working trip, the PM delivered a speech at the eighth FII in Saudi Arabia, and a policy speech at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA) in Abu Dhabi, the UAE; attended the Vietnam – UAE business forum and the brand launch of Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker Vinfast, and the inauguration ceremony of Vietnamese tech giant FPT's Middle East regional office in Saudi Arabia, and visited Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial city. At these events, Chinh shared his views on the world’s situation and development trends, Vietnam's relations with other countries and its development orientations and goals. He affirmed Vietnam's responsibility and called on the world community and the three Middle Eastern countries in particular to cooperate with Vietnam in various fields for a future of sustainable development and prosperity.

Words accompanied by actions

At the meetings and talks, the leaders of Vietnam and the three countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in all fields, particularly economic, trade and investment cooperation. Leaders of the countries play a building role, so businesses engage in promoting economic ties, with specific cooperation projects to eye the goals of 20 billion USD in two-way trade between Vietnam and the UAE and 10 billion USD in two-way trade between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, as well as create make a breakthrough in trade and investment between Vietnam - Qatar. Leaders of countries have played a constructive role, promoting economic relations must be done by businesses, with specific cooperation projects to soon set the target of trade turnover between Vietnam and the UAE reaching 20 billion USD, between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia increased to 10 billion USD, and there was a breakthrough in trade and investment between Vietnam and Qatar.

With the determination to accelerate and realise high-level agreements, during the trip, the Vietnamese PM worked with the leaders of ministries, agencies, investment funds, and large corporations of the three countries to promote cooperation in all fields. Authorities and and businesses from the three countries showed their interest in and highly valued Vietnam's development potential, affirming their intention to send delegations to Vietnam immediately to explore investment and business opportunities. Vietnam and the three countries signed and exchanged 33 cooperation documents in trade, investment, finance, energy, innovation, education, sports, and cooperation between businesses, creating a foundation for promoting their cooperation in the coming time. Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that the signing of cooperation documents has opened up prospects and opportunities for Vietnamese goods to access markets in other countries, thus Vietnam can expand to markets in the Middle East, Africa and southern Europe. According to the minister, along with the signed documents, the Gulf countries and partner countries have expressed their desire to initiate negotiations to sign free trade agreements with Vietnam. Their politicians and entrepreneurs expressed their wish to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam, especially in such areas as energy, minerals, oil and gas, industry, strategic infrastructure for transportation, digital infrastructure, and green transition. Also during his working trip, the PM met with staff of the Vietnamese Embassies and representatives of the Vietnamese community in the three countries, informing them about the homeland’s situation and listening to their aspirations. He affirmed that the Party and the State consider overseas Vietnamese an inseparable part of the nation, and always commit to caring for the people, whether they are at home or abroad. The PM’s visits to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have effectively implemented the foreign policy set by the 13th National Party Congress, contributing to strengthening political trust, elevating relations, and creating breakthroughs in ties between Vietnam and countries in the coming time in various fields, and opening up a period of acceleration and breakthrough in new cooperation between Vietnam and countries./.