Malaysia will consider receiving more skilled Vietnamese labourers and create favourable legal procedures for workers from the country, said Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) met with Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman on February 5 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat (AMM Retreat) 

He made the statement at a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on February 5 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat (AMM Retreat) which is underway in Singapore.

Aman said that Malaysia also commits to bolstering cooperation in economy, trade and investment with Vietnam.

Additionally, Malaysia will facilitate Vietnamese businesses’ access to Malaysia’s market, especially in the manufacturing and processing of halal food for Muslim, agro-forestry exports, as well as encourage cooperation between the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group and Malaysian firms.

For his part, the Vietnamese Deputy PM proposed a number of activities to celebrate the 45th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Malaysia this year.

Minh thanked the Malaysian government for its humanitarian treatment of Vietnamese fishermen detained in Malaysia. He suggested that the two countries’ coastguard forces step up information sharing and cooperation in maritime issues, along with the establishment of hotline and joint patrols, while pushing forward with negotiations on delimitation of overlapping sea waters. 

He also asked Malaysia to ensure a fair trial for Vietnamese citizen Doan Thi Huong, one of the two suspects in the murder of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) national Kim Chol in February 2017.

At the meeting, the two ministers also stressed the significance of maintaining peace, stability, security, maritime and air safety in the East Sea, agreeing that ASEAN needs to work together to efficiently build the Code of Conduct in the East Sea with China.-VNA