PM’s working trip to Saudi Arabia opens up new cooperation opportunities

This is the first time since the establishment of relations in 1990 that ASEAN and GCC have held their first summit, adding fresh impetus to bilateral cooperation, for peace, stability and prosperity in both regions and the wider world.

The summit achieved its set goals, reaching common consensus on a number of cooperation areas. Both sides valued each other’s roles and positions, and were committed to strengthening equally and mutually beneficial cooperation in toder to fully tap into their great potential.

Along with increasing bilateral cooperation in politics-security, they vowed to ramp up cooperation in some priority areas, including trade, investment, supply chain security, connectivity, maritime cooperation, energy security, food, Halal industry, innovation, culture, tourism, labour, climate change response, energy conversion, and green growth.

The two sides agreed to strengthen multilateral cooperation, promote dialogue, cooperation, and confidence building, and respect the rule of law, as well as independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity without interference in each other’s affairs, while joining hands to solve regional and global challenges.

Expressing concern about recent developments in the Gaza Strip, the participating countries called on all parties to immediately cease fire, stop the use of force, respect international humanitarian law, resume negotiations, and resolve disagreements through peaceful means, on the basis of international law and relevant UN resolutions.

At the end of the summit, ASEAN and GCC leaders adopted a joint declaration, setting out development directions and enhancing bilateral relations in the coming time.

New cooperation opportunities

This is Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s working trip to Saudi Arabia to strengthen political trust and generate new cooperation opportunities between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, as well as other countries in the Persian Gulf.

His business trip aimed to create a breakthrough in finding new cooperation opportunities, expanding the market for Vietnamese goods and services, including agricultural and aquatic products, into Saudi Arabia and the GCC market, attracting investment capital, and developing the Halal industry, along with increasing cooperation in energy transition, sustainable growth, highly skilled labour, and tourism.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet said that during meetings and exchanges, leaders of all participating countries highly appreciated the role and position of Vietnam, as well as brilliant prospects of its economic growth.

Saudi Arabia wished to contribute to Vietnam’s bright future through specific cooperation plans, while Qatar affirmed there is no limit to cooperation between the two sides.

“We think that the two sides have a lot of room to expand the market, and attract large-scale investments to Vietnam not only in traditional fields but also in new fields such as digital transformation, green transformation, energy transformation, and climate change response,” said the diplomat.

According to Viet, the Vietnamese delegation actively participated in all activities of the summit, making important and responsible contributions to the success of the event. Notably, the Prime Minister delivered an important speech, highlighting the significance of the summit, raising great expectations for the two sides to strive together to bring relations to new heights.

The PM proposed that ASEAN and GCC enhance economic, trade and investment cooperation as the main pillar and the driving force connecting the two regions and complementing each other for mutual development. He also stressed the need for the two sides to quickly institutionalize their cooperation with regular, substantive, and effective cooperation mechanisms in every specific field, while strengthening multilateral cooperation to jointly maintain a peaceful and stable environment for development.

To attract investment capital into Vietnam, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pledged to devote more funds to large Vietnamese projects to develop its infrastructure. Many large Saudi Arabian firms affirmed that they would consider expanding investment activities in Vietnam in such fields as steel and pre-engineered steel, retail, agriculture and clean energy. They also expected to expand their businesses network to other ASEAN countries through Vietnam.

Notably, Saudi Arabia agreed to help Vietnam establish standards and meet regulations for Halal products from production, processing and consumption of products. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on food safety for agricultural products, making it easier for Vietnamese businesses to export their products to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia also agreed to send experts to inspect Vietnamese aquaculture and product processing, creating conditions for Vietnamese aquatic products, including pangasius and shrimp, to enter its market.

“These are good signs for Vietnamese businesses that are planning to export products to the Saudi Arabia market,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam.

Meanwhile, Le Manh Hung, general director of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group stated that there will be a huge opportunity for energy cooperation between Vietnamese businesses and their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East - a region that boasts the world’s largest oil potential.

“Cooperation in investment, trade and services will help businesses of the two sides improve their ability to apply innovation technology and train and develop high-quality human resources for each side,” said Hung.

Vietnam – Saudi Arabia coordination

Alongside the success of the Vietnam – Saudi Arabia business forum, the two sides signed five cooperation documents in the fields of justice, diplomacy, crime prevention, tourism and trade promotion, thereby completing the legal framework and favourable conditions for cooperation in the near future.

At the forum, Hassan Al Hwaiziy, head of the Federation of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, noted that the door is wide open to the business communities of the two countries in a series of other fields with great cooperation prospects.

According to Al Hwaiziy, both Saudi and Arabia have set ambitious development goals to 2030, with a primary focus on forming mega cities and mega urban areas, along with undertaking global supply chain initiatives and economic corridor projects.

In this process, Saudi Arabia will act as a strategic axis and Vietnam is considered one of the starting points of this corridor, he said.

In addition, he said the two countries still hold great potential to increase cooperation in the fields of production of energy, petrochemicals, and agricultural mineral resources; medical education; tourism; and entertainment and media, among others.

“We expect that the Government of Vietnam will introduce measures to attract Saudi Arabian investment in manufacturing and service opportunities in which Vietnam has many strengths, taking into account Saudi Arabia’s successful investments in Vietnam in such fields as steel production, solar energy, agriculture, food industry, information technology, textiles, ready-made garments. This will help to double the scale and diversity of economic cooperation opportunities as well as profits of businesses when investing in Vietnam,” analyzed Al Hwaiziy.

Echoing the official’s view, PM Pham Minh Chinh also hoped that Vietnam and Saudi Arabia would coordinate closely to support their businesses in not only engaging in each other’s markets but also expanding to the vast potential markets of ASEAN and GCC.

He pledged to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of Saudi Arabian investors, and accompany the investors to iron out difficulties and create conditions for them to operate efficiently in according with Vietnamese Constitution and law.

Despite a busy schedule, PM Chinh also spent time meeting the Vietnamese community in Saudi Arabia. He encouraged them to strengthen unity, live legally and make more contributions to the fatherland, as well as to fostering Vietnam – Saudi Arabia relations.