Hanoi (VNA) – Since Vietnam andMalaysia set up their diplomatic relations 50 years ago, their ties have beenexpanded extensively and comprehensively across all pillars of Party, State andpeople diplomacy, stated Chargé d'affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy inMalaysia Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency, Anh said that the 50-year journey that the two countries have taken is marked with an important milestone when they lifted their ties to astrategic partnership on August 7, 2015, making Vietnam the only strategicpartner of Malaysia among the ASEAN countries.

The upgrade showed the in-depth developmentof the bilateral relations with strong political trust, while reflecting a newchapter in their comprehensive cooperation over all fields such as politics,diplomacy, economy, trade, culture, defence-security, science-technology andsustainable development, she said.

The two sides are currently workingtogether to implement the Action Plan to realise their strategic partnership inthe 2021-2025 period, paving the way for the further growth of the bilateralrelations in the future.

Anh noted that over many years, Malaysia hasbeen one of the leading trade and investment partner of Vietnam among the ASEANmember states.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sidesstill maintained the exchange of delegations and high-level meetings throughall channels in flexible forms, including the Vietnam visit by then Malaysian PrimeMinister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in March 2022, said the diplomat, addingthat bilateral cooperation mechanisms have also been maintained and promoted.

At the same time, the two sides havestrengthened defence and security cooperation through high-level meetings. Thesigning of the cooperation agreement on transnational crime prevention andcombat in 2015 created an important legal foundation for the two sides topromote their collaboration in the field of national security protection, shesaid.

The diplomat highlighted the economic-trade cooperation as a bright spotin the bilateral relations over the years.Malaysia is currently the second biggest trade partner in the ASEAN only afterThailand, and ranks ninth among all the trade partners of Vietnam in the world.Malaysia is also the third largest export market of Vietnam in the ASEAN. Two-waytrade has continuously increased through years despite the pandemic impact,reaching 14.7 billion USD in 2022, up 17.6% year on year.

Malaysia is Vietnam's second largest investor in the ASEAN after Singapore, and ranks 10th out of the 140 countries and territoriesinvesting in Vietnam with 668 valid projects totalling 13 billion USD.Meanwhile, Vietnam has 21 investment projects in Malaysia with a totalregistered capital of 853 million USD.

Both sides are members of many organisations, forums and free trade agreements(FTA), including the ASEAN Plus free trade area, the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreementfor Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Anh highlighted, underlining that the two countries are enjoying huge cooperation potential.

Regarding major focuses in the partnershipbetween the two countries in 2023 and following years, Anh said that the twosides will collaborate in promoting the effective implementation of the ActionPlan to realise their strategic partnership in the 2021-2025 period, withspecial attention to the maintenance of political trust and exchange ofdelegations at high and all levels through all channels, and the promotion ofeconomic cooperation, creating favourable conditions for the bilateralcollaboration in new and potential areas such as Halal industry and digitaltransformation.

At the same time, it is necessary tofacilitate bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Joint Committee oneconomic, science and technology cooperation at the FM level, and theJoint Committee on trade cooperation at the Industry and Trade ministerial level, thus realising development goals inparticular fields, she said.

In terms of economic cooperation, leadersof the two countries have agreed to work together towards the target of 18billion USD in two-way trade in 2025.

As the two countries have reopened theirtourism market, they should resume connections in this sector, people-to-peopleexchange, education and labour, Anh held, adding that Malaysia is a potentialtourism and investment market of Vietnam.

Halal food industry is also a promising cooperationarea for the two sides, as Malaysia is one of the leading countries in buildingstandards that can help Vietnamese goods access the Malaysian market and other Islamic countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

The diplomat also revealed that in the timeto come, the Vietnamese Embassy will coordinate with relevant ministries andagencies of Vietnam and the host country to organise various activities tocelebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Malaysia diplomaticrelations, including a ceremony to mark the event, which comprises of ameeting, a food festival and art performances.

Commenting on the contributions of theVietnamese community in Malaysia, Anh said that currently, there are more than30,000 Vietnamese people living, working and studying in Malaysia. Alongwith making important contributions to the host economy, the community hasmaintained and promoted the Vietnamese culture in Malaysia and engaged inmany charity and social activities in the host country, while working as abridge connecting people of the two nations, she said./.