Major takeaways from Prime Minister's visits to three Middle Eastern countries

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son made the above statement following the Prime Minister's recent visits to United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar from October 27-November 1.

According to Bui, the visits hold great significance, reflecting a new mindset, a new strategic vision, and a strong commitment by the Vietnamese leaders to elevate relations with the three key countries in the Gulf region to a new phase, towards a stronger, more comprehensive and deeply trusted manner, with many broader opportunities opening up.

Secondly, the visits have elevated the relationship between Viet Nam and the three countries, in particular, as well as with the Middle East and North Africa, in general.

The official upgrade of relations with the UAE to a comprehensive partnership has opened up new avenues for the development of bilateral ties, expanding Viet Nam's network of comprehensive partnerships to 14 countries.

Additionally, the agreements between Viet Nam, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to soon promote their relations to a higher levels have injected momentums in the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and these countries, paving the way for strengthening ties with other important partners in the Middle East and North Africa.

Thirdly, the visits once again demonstrate a forward-thinking mindset, strategic vision, strong commitment, and decisive actions in advancing multifaceted cooperation with the Middle East and expanding market access for Vietnamese exports while attracting high-quality investment from leading global investment funds and corporations.

The visits have expanded cooperation in priority areas for Viet Nam, such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, clean energy, green transition, digital transformation, innovation, and the development of the Halal industry, bringing concrete and practical benefits for the country's future development.

Regarding remarkable outcomes of the visits, Bui said, the Prime Minister had an intensive, substantive, and effective working schedule, with nearly 60 activities.

The leaders of the host countries extended a warm and respectful welcome to the Vietnamese delegation, with special arrangements that underscore the importance they place on relations with Viet Nam in line with their "Look East" policies, recognizing Viet Nam as a key partner in Southeast Asia.

Leaders from all three countries praised Viet Nam's potential, achievements, and growing position and role on the global stage.

During meetings with the Prime Minister, leaders of the largest investment funds and corporations from these countries showed great enthusiasm, spoke highly of Viet Nam's growth potential, and affirmed that they would immediately send delegations to Viet Nam to explore investment and business opportunities following the visit.

Specially, within the framework of the visits, many important documents were adopted, including the Joint Statement on upgrading Viet Nam-UAE relations to a comprehensive partnership, a Viet Nam-Qatar Joint Communiqué, and the signing of 33 cooperation agreements in areas such as trade-investment, finance, energy, innovation, standards, metrology and quality, education-training, sports, and business collaboration.

These agreements lay the foundation for promoting cooperation across all fields between Viet Nam and the three countries.

Furthermore, the visits achieved substantial and breakthrough results in economic, trade, and investment cooperation.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Viet Nam and the UAE marks the 17th free trade agreement that Viet Nam has signed, aiming for bilateral trade to reach US$20 billion in the near future.

With Saudi Arabia, both sides agreed on a bilateral trade target of US$10 billion and pledged to make Saudi Arabia a leading investor in Viet Nam.

With Qatar, the two sides committed to boosting bilateral trade in the coming period, considering the establishment of a joint trade working group and a Vietnamese product display center in Qatar, and advancing cooperation in finance.

Beside traditional areas, Viet Nam has identified key pillars for future cooperation with these countries in all spheres of innovation, green transition, digital transformation, and the development of the Halal industry.

Bui expressed his belief that the outcomes achieved during the Prime Minister's visits will be effectively implemented, contributing to the comprehensive and extensive development of friendly relations and cooperation between Viet Nam and the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar as well as bringing practical benefits to the people and businesses of both sides, contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world./.