Vietnam ready to contribute to success of ASEAN - GCC Summit: ambassador

Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is ready to contribute to the success of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations - Gulf Cooperation Council (ASEAN - GCC)Summit held in Saudi Arabia, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi ArabiaDang Xuan Dung.

As a key member of ASEAN, Vietnam has always upheld activeness and responsibility, contributing effectively to strengtheningrelations between ASEAN and the GCC, especially in 2018 when it assumed its role asa coordinating country of the ASEAN-GCC relationship, Dung said.

At this summit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will joinsenior leaders of ASEAN and the GCC to share major initiatives and measures to boostcooperation between the two regions, expand and deepen collaboration of ASEANin general and Vietnam in particular with the entire GCC bloc and with each GCCmember in the fields of common concern such as trade, investment, energy andfood security, anti-terrorism, connectivity, tourism, promotion and protectionof the rights of migrant workers, and people-to-people exchanges.

The diplomat said that GCC member states, including SaudiArabia, are all priority cooperation partners of Vietnam in the Middle East andAfrica.

With huge development potential, the bilateral relationswill develop further in the coming time, Dung stated, adding that the PM’svisit to Saudi Arabia and his attendance at the summit this time will helpconsolidate political trust and deepen multi-faceted cooperation.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung meets with Prince Saud bin Talal bin Bader, Governor of Al-Ahsa (Photo: VNA)

In the fields of economics, trade, and investment, SaudiArabia is Vietnam's leading trade partner in the Middle East region. In 2022, two-waytrade reached 2.7 billion USD, up 32.4% year-on-year, which shows that this isa potential field that the two countries need to exploit, especially in the importand export of agricultural products and food according to Halal standards.

He proposed the two countries continue speeding upnegotiations towards the signing of agreements to complete the legal frameworkfor bilateral collaboration to create a favourable environment for economicties.

It is necessary to actively solve problems related tobusiness practices and legal regulations in investment and business in eachcountry, while enhancing information sharing about markets, and economic, tradeand investment cooperation opportunities.

The ambassador also stressed the need to create favourableconditions for localities and businesses of the two countries to proactivelyparticipate in each other's promotion activities and programmes; and wellorganise the fifth meeting of the Vietnam-Saudi Arabia joint committee./.

VNA