Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) shakes hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during the 33rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Singapore (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The forthcoming visit to Vietnam byMalaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the first since Mahathir took officein May 2018, is expected to further strengthen the friendship and extensivecooperation between the two countries.
The visit on August 27-28 is taking place in the context ofpositive developments in Vietnam-Malaysia ties. Political relations are growingclose and trustful through the maintenance of visit exchanges and effectiveoperation of bilateral cooperative mechanisms. Collaboration across the fieldsfrom economics-trade to defence-security, labour and tourism, is expanding. Thetwo countries have effectively coordinated at regional and internationalforums, especially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and theUnited Nations (UN).
Vietnam and Malaysia established diplomatic relationship onMarch 30, 1973, and the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countrieshave unceasingly developed in all spheres.
The two countries regularly exchange visits. Vietnam’sPresident Truong Tan Sang visited Malaysia in September 2011 and Prime MinisterNguyen Tan Dung, in August 2015, while Malaysia’s King Muhamad V came toVietnam in March 2009 and September 2013, and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak,in April 2014.
The two countries issued a joint statement on theirstrategic partnership framework during PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Malaysiain 2015, and approved a plan of actions to implement the strategic partnershipin March 2017. Last year, the two sides joined hands to organize a series of activitiesto mark the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship.
Cooperation in defence has been maintained through theexchange of delegations at different levels and exchanges, training andexperience sharing between their armed forces. Their naval forces exchanged draftMoUs in 2009 and 2017 on establishing mechanisms for joint patrols and hotlines,and sent ships on mutual visits. Vietnam’s air defence-air force has received adelegation of Malaysian defence industry businesses who came to explorecooperation possibilities in the maintenance of Su 30 aircraft, rockets andradar.
Bilateral affiliation in security has also been intensifiedthrough the exchange of information serving the prevention and combatingterrorism, and cyber and trans-national crimes. The two countries inked anagreement on cooperation in preventing and fighting trans-national crime in2015.
In particular, economic-trade-investment cooperation is anoutstanding feature in bilateral ties. The two countries are among the top 10trade partners of each other. Bilateral trade value has enjoyed good growth,reaching 11.5 billion USD in 2018, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.Vietnam exports to Malaysia mainly crude oil, rice, coffee and seafood, while importingsteel, petrol, plant and animal oil, plastic materials, machineries, equipment,computers and electronic goods.
Petro Vietnam and Petronas Malaysia have partnered up since1991 in oil and gas exploration, processing and service. The two companies areimplementing 10 joint projects.
Regarding investment,as of April 2019 Malaysia had 586 investment projects in Vietnam with totalregistered capital reaching 12.4 billion USD, ranking 8th among 130foreign investors in the country. Vietnamese investors poured 1.53 billion USDin 19 projects in Malaysia.
The two countries have also expanded cooperation in otherfields, such as labour, education and tourism.
Vietnam currently has around 29,000 workers legally workingin Malaysia. In November last year, the two sides held the first meeting oftheir Joint Working Group on the sidelines of the 25th ASEAN LabourMinisters’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur to discuss ways to implement their 2015 MoUon labour cooperation.
Vietnam and Malaysia also signed an MoU on education inMarch this year, which replaced the deal inked in 2004. More than 1,000Vietnamese students are studying in Malaysia.
With a tourism cooperation deal signed in as early as 1994, Malaysiahas now become the 7th largest source of visitors to Vietnam, withmore than 540,000 Malaysians travelling to Vietnam in 2018, up 12.4 percentfrom 2017.
The two countries have regularly coordinated and supportedeach other at regional and international forums, and are working closely inpromoting the building of the ASEAN Community.
The Vietnamese community in Malaysia now numbers around65,000, who live across 13 states.-VNA
VNA
