69th anniversary of National Day marked in Malaysia

Attendees included Minister of the Malaysian Government Prime Minister Office Joseph Entulu Belaun and representatives from Malaysian ministries, Kula Lumpur-based foreign embassies and Vietnamese agencies.

In his speech, Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao reviewed the historical path of Vietnam since the success of the August Revolution and the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) 69 years ago and highlighted the great achievements the Vietnamese people have recorded after nearly seven decades of persistent struggle.

Minister of the Malaysian Government Prime Minister Office Joseph Entulu Belaun (L) and Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao at the anniversary.

The Vietnamese diplomat applauded the growing ties of friendship and all-around cooperation between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973. After more than 40 years of maintaining diplomatic ties, Malaysia is currently Vietnam’s third largest trading partner in ASEAN, and No 9 in the world with trade turnover reaching over US$9 billion in 2013.

Malaysia also ranks 8^th among foreign investors in Vietnam with total investment of more than US$10 billion.

Ambassador Thao said he hopes that with the joint efforts of the two governments and people, Vietnam-Malaysia relations will grow steadily particularly after the visit to Vietnam by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in April this year during which Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Malaysia counterpart agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.