At the meeting, the Vietnamese diplomat reviewed the situation in Vietnam in recent times. Vietnam is a non- permanent member at the UN Security Council and will assume the rotating ASEAN Presidency next year. The country boasts a great deal of potential and opportunities for economic cooperation with foreign investors. Vietnam wants to boost cooperation with Egypt as it holds an important position in the Middle East and Africa as well as the Arab World, said Tam.

Two-way trade turnover between the two countries remains low as they have not yet tapped each other’s potential effectively. The Vietnamese Ambassador asked both countries to promote the exchange of products and accelerate the implementation of agreements and memorandums of understanding signed by their joint sub-committees in October last year.

On the occasion, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nzif and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit were invited to visit Vietnam in the future.

For his part, the Egyptian PM said that Vietnam plays an important role in South East Asia much like Egypt’s crucial role in the Arab World.

Both sides have great potential for bilateral cooperation, however, their cooperation is still limited. Therefore, they should further promote bilateral cooperation in every field, stressed Mr Ahmed Nazif.

The Egyptian PM also invited his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung to visit Egypt at an appropriate time.