At a reception on May 21 in Hanoi for Israeli Minister of Labour Rabbi Yoav Ben Tzur, who is on an official visit to Vietnam, the Vietnamese cabinet leader expressed his confidence that the Israeli Minister’s visit will help further reinforce the political, economic and trade relations between the two countries, including in the areas of labour and employment.

He affirmed that Vietnam always values its friendship and all-around cooperation with Israel, one of Vietnam’s key partners in the Middle East, and conveyed greetings to the Israeli Prime Minister via Minister Tzur. PM Chinh also proposed that the two countries continue to intensify high-level and other official exchanges.

On the occasion of Israel’s 77th Independence Day celebrated by the Israeli Embassy in Vietnam on May 21, PM Chinh extended his congratulations to the Government and people of Israel, wishing them continued success in national construction and development.

He emphasised that science and technology and labour are two key areas where the two countries can complement each other. He again suggested cooperation and support from Israel in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and start-up development, while Vietnam could contribute to Israel’s development with its human resources.

To realize these ideas, the Government chief called for the early completion of negotiations and signing of a labour agreement between Vietnam and Israel by June 2025 at the latest. He also proposed that both sides agree on effective implementation mechanisms, cooperate on training programmes for workers, including vocational skills, languages, culture, and legal knowledge, and roll out bilateral cooperation projects in the labour and employment sector, including new areas such as software design.

Assigning the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide weekly updates on the negotiation progress, the PM also requested the two countries to explore potential agreements on education and training, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, start-ups, and high-tech agriculture.

In response, Minister Yoav Ben Tzur congratulated Vietnam on the 135th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh. He shared that he had visited the Vietnam Military History Museum and was deeply impressed by the country’s history and tradition of nation-building and defence. He also applauded Vietnam’s recent development achievements.

Yoav Ben Tzur said his visit aims to further strengthen existing cooperation between Israel’s Ministry of Labour and Vietnam’s Ministry of Home Affairs, as well as between the two countries, especially in labour relations. Israel, he affirmed, is ready to cooperate with Vietnam in all areas, including high-tech, software and energy.

Israel is currently experiencing a considerable labour shortage, particularly in the construction sector, and highly values the quality of Vietnamese human resources, which he said meet Israel’s requirements. He affirmed that Israel hopes to welcome more skilled Vietnamese workers and is committed to create favourable conditions for their employment. Israel is currently one of the countries offering the best protection of rights for foreign workers and is increasingly becoming a destination of choice for overseas labour.

Agreeing with the PM’s proposal to speed up labour agreement negotiations, Minister Tzur suggested that while waiting for the official agreement to be concluded, businesses from both sides could proceed with direct cooperation to bring Vietnamese workers to Israel.

After 32 years of diplomatic ties, Vietnam–Israel relations have continued to see positive development. In 2023, Vietnam became the first ASEAN member state to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Israel, also its first FTA in the Middle East. In 2024, two-way trade reached US$3.24 billion. Israel is currently Vietnam’s second-largest Middle Eastern investor, with more than US$150 million invested in the country.

Vietnam, Israel urged to boost science-technology and high-tech agriculture links

VOV.VN - Vietnam and Israel should consider science-technology and high-tech agriculture as priority areas for future co-operation, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said during talks held on July 25 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.