President: Vietnam ready to listen to foreign investors

Vietnam is willing to listen to foreign investors and facilitate their investments in the country, President Truong Tan Sang has said.

President Sang made the remarks at his reception in Hanoi on November 4 for the delegation heads of the Middle East and North African countries to the Economic Cooperation Forum between Vietnam and its Middle East-North African partners.

The first–ever forum brought together 15 delegations consisting of 250 businesses from the Middle East and North African countries.

The delegation heads shared high estimations to the organisation of the forum as a means to cement and further the growing ties between Vietnam and countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

They expressed both optimism and belief in the two sides’ cooperation prospects and showed their determination to materialise the ideals and deals reached at the forum to step up cooperation in economics, energy, investment, labour and agriculture in the coming time.

The guests also took the occasion to suggest Vietnamese leaders assist foreign businesses carry out their investment projects here.

Hailing the guests’ participation in the forum, President Sang also lauded the robust growing trade value between Vietnam and the countries in the region over the past decade, saying there are ways for the two sides to make their two-way trade value surpass the current figure of nearly US$8 billion.

He reiterated the country’s foreign policy of placing importance on cooperation with traditional friends, including those in the Middle East-North Africa, and expressed hope that the forum will allow the sides to foster stronger exchanges in trade, investment, agriculture, and oil and gas.

President Sang suggested the delegation heads make the best use of their role as a bridge for their countries and Vietnam by continuing the outcomes reaped from the forum and increasing contacts with Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities for cooperation between the sides to reach a higher level.

VN, M.East, N. Africa seek to tap strong co-operation

Viet Nam and Middle Eastern and North African countries have great potential for effective multifaceted co-operation, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the first forum for economic co-operation between Viet Nam and its Middle East and North Africa partners, held in Ha Noi yesterday, Nov 4.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attends the international forum for economic co-operation between Viet Nam, Middle Eastern and North African partners, which kicked off in Ha Noi yesterday.

The country's location in the Asia Pacific – a dynamic region currently leading the global economy – as well as its stable socio-political environment, large market of about 90 million people and abundant labour force made it an ideal investment destination, the PM said.

He also highlighted the strategic position of the Middle East and North Africa, which connect Asia to Europe and Africa and boast rich natural resources, especially oil and gas.

Viet Nam has established 12 diplomatic missions in Middle East and African nations, while 15 African nations have opened their representative offices in the country. Two-way trade has increased by 878 per cent in the past decade, from US$889 million in 2002 to $7.4 billion last year.

Middle Eastern and African businesses have invested in Viet Nam's oil and gas industry, seaports and real estate market, according to the PM. Some Vietnamese businesses have been developing oil and gas projects in Algeria invested by the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group.

Nearly 26,000 Vietnamese people have worked under contract in Middle East and North African nations.

However, PM Dung said the achievements were not up to the two sides' great potential and expectations, as bilateral trade accounted for only 5 per cent of Viet Nam's total import-export turnover last year despite a rapid growth rate. In turn, capital from the Middle East and North Africa poured into Viet Nam accounted for a small percentage of the region's overseas investments and only 0.3 per cent of international workers in the Middle East and North Africa were Vietnamese.

The PM said Viet Nam has been implementing its socio-economic development strategy with a view to 2020 and is currently focusing on finalising its institutional and legal system, developing modern infrastructure and generating quality human resources, along with restructuring the economy and renewing its growth model for rapid and sustainable development.

The country has joined negotiations for key Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) including a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Trans-Pacific Partnership and FTAs with the European Union and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

These agreements would provide co-operation opportunities for not only Vietnamese businesses but also foreigners doing business in the country, he said.

"We are committed to creating the best possible conditions for foreign investors to do efficient, long-term business in Viet Nam," he said. "Your success is ours."

Also at the forum, deputy minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong said that infrastructure development would help Viet Nam reform its economic institutions.

Cong said that the Middle East and North Africa region would provide preferential credits for Viet Nam's infrastructure development projects.

The ministry welcomed partners for co-operation in the transport sector, he said.

Cherip Chiki, Ambassador of Algeria to Viet Nam, welcomed the idea of co-operation in the sector with Viet Nam. He affirmed that Algeria had rich potential, especially in gas, while Viet Nam had high demand for energy.

Algeria's five-year plan for the 2010-14 period focused on diversifying its economy and developing modern infrastructure, he said. The country is currently building a 1,200-kilometre highway from East to West with the participation of several Vietnamese experts.

Viet Nam and Algeria have rich potential to improve two-way trade, though the trade turnover between the two sides is low, he said.

Participants also highly valued co-operation in labour, agriculture and tourism.

Hossein Al Vandi Behineh, ambassador of Iran to Viet Nam, said he expected that two-way trade between Iran and Viet Nam would increase, although it was at the modest level of $200 million last year.

Iran's private businesses expected to receive support from the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment as well as the two governments.

During the two-day event, policymakers and business executives from Viet Nam, Middle East and North African nations are scheduled to examine the investment and business environment on both sides and the possibility of greater cooperation in energy, trade, infrastructure development, labour, agriculture and tourism.

Several bilateral meetings among ministries, businesses and exhibitions on the products and cultures of the regions took place and various agreements between the sides as well as among businesses were expected to be signed.

Yesterday President Truong Tan Sang also received delegation heads from the Middle East and North African countries attending the forum.

Hailing the guests' participation, Sang lauded the robust and growing trade value between Viet Nam and the countries in the region over the past decade, saying there were ways for the two sides to extend two-way trade value past the current figure of nearly $8 billion.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated that the Government supports co-operation between the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Kyodo News Agency as a means to deepen the productive and practical Viet Nam–Japan strategic partnership.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung receives President and Editor-in-Chief of Kyodo News Masaki Fukuyama in Ha Noi yesterday.

Receiving President and Editor-in-Chief of Kyodo News Masaki Fukuyama in Ha Noi yesterday (Nov 4), PM Dung hailed the VNA-Kyodo co-operation over the past 30 years, saying that it had deepened the friendship between the two nations.

Potential for bilateral co-operation remains huge, especially in economics, trade and investment, as Japan is now Viet Nam's biggest investor and supplier of official development assistance as well as the country's top trade partner, according to the PM.

Viet Nam wishes to boost ties with Japan across diverse domains for mutual benefit, the host stressed. He also suggested VNA and Kyodo share further information and experience and make training available to more reporters and editors.

Fukuyama said his visit aimed to further relations with VNA, especially in the exchange of information, so that Vietnamese and Japanese people could have a better understanding of one another.

The guest emphasised that the Japanese government and people paid special attention to co-operation with Vietnam, adding that Kyodo would do all it could to inform the population about the friendship and links between the two nations.

At earlier talks with VNA Director General Nguyen Duc Loi, both sides reviewed how their co-operation deals had panned out, including the exchange of all-level delegations, news and photos, personnel training and multimedia development.

Both sides pledged to work more closely together in multimedia, including television news, and facilitate more high-level visits and sharing of professional skills, especially foreign languages.

In the near future, VNA wants to learn about Kyodo's organisation model and news production.

VNA and Kyodo established co-operation in the late 1980s and the resulting fruitful links have been hailed by both nations' leaders. Besides professional co-operation, they have worked closely together at organisations and forums in which they are members.

They have been elected as members of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) executive board for the 2013-2016 tenure.

Calling for investment in the key sectors of China’s Qinghai province topped the agenda of a November 4 conference in Ho Chi Minh City on trade and tourism promotion between Vietnam and China.

According to Yu Xiao, deputy head of the Qinghai Department of Commerce, the event is among activities to further boost connectivity between businesses of both countries, creating favourable conditions for them to explore each other’s market and seek partners.

Located in the west of China, Qinghai has enjoyed a developed economy with key sectors such as information technology, green energy and industry, he said, expressing his hope that through the conference, more businesses from Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular will come to the province to study business and investment opportunities.

Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s branch in Ho Chi Minh City, said economic and trade ties between Vietnam and China have saw encouraging progress in recent years.

He hailed efforts by both sides’ relevant agencies to expand bilateral relations and create chances for businesses to meet and seek partnerships.

VCCI alone has signed nearly 30 memoranda of understanding and agreements with Chinese organisations to support trade exchanges among the two countries' enterprises.

By September this year, two-way trade between Vietnam and China hit about 36.24 billion USD, up 31.7 percent over the same period last year.

China now has 940 projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of nearly 5 billion USD.

Deputy PM Ninh visits Singapore

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh is leading Vietnamese government delegation to pay a working visit to Singapore from November 5-8 at the invitation of the Singaporean Cooperation Program’s (SCP) S.R Nathan Fellowship.

The S.R Nathan Fellowship was initiated in November 2012 by Singaporean Foreign Minister K.Shanmugam and former President S.R Nathan with the aim of promoting mutual understanding and cooperative relations between Singapore and other countries.

The programme is designed for senior leaders, politicians and foreign scholars coming to Singapore to share their view, experience, initiatives and ways to cope with current and future challenges.

The Vietnamese delegation’s visit aims to strengthen political relations based on mutual trust within the framework of the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership and beef up bilateral cooperation in finance, banking and macroeconomic management.

Vietnam-Singapore relations have developed dynamically after 40 years of their establishment of diplomatic ties. The two counties’ leaders have regularly maintained high-level exchange visits and contacts.

On economics, last year’s two-way trade turnover hit US$9 billion and climbed to US$3.5 billion after the five months of this year.

Singapore now ranks second among countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 1,165 projects with total capitalization of US$ 28 billion.

The two countries are eager to further boost cooperation in defence-security, education-training, finance-banking, transport, culture and tourism.

During the visit, the Vietnamese delegation will work with a number of Singaporean ministries, Investment Fund Temasek Holdings, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA).

It is also scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

VN-Sweden toast 46 years of invaluable co-operation

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in conjunction with the Swedish Embassy in Viet Nam, held a ceremony in Ha Noi yesterday (Nov 4) to celebrate 46 years of successful development co-operation between Viet Nam and Sweden.

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong thanked the Swedish Government and people for their enthusiastic support of Vietnam from its past struggle for liberation to today's national construction and development.

Sweden was the first Western country to fund and maintain official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam in 1967. The country has so far provided Vietnam with more than US$3.4 billion in non-refundable aid through the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA).

Swedish Ambassador Camilla Mellander emphasised that over the past 46 years, Sweden had helped Viet Nam in poverty reduction as well as its development into a middle-income nation, with assistance mostly in agriculture, industry, forestry, economic reform, judiciary, health, education and gender equality.

She said Sweden's bilateral development co-operation programme in Viet Nam would end in late 2013. However, she affirmed that her country pledges to continue contributing to Viet Nam's progress through regional, international and multilateral programmes.

Vietnam, Cambodia seek to forge lawyers’ cooperation

The Vietnam Lawyers Association (VLA) and the Cambodian Bar Association (CBA) agreed to further their bilateral ties in the coming time during their working session in Phnom Penh on November 4.

The meeting forms part of the visit to Cambodia by a VLA delegation led by its Vice President and Secretary General Le Minh Tam from November 3-6.

The two sides also reached a consensus on the need to accelerate their membership operations at the ASEAN Law Association and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

They held that bilateral cooperation plays an important role in the context that the two countries are on the path of international integration.

Both Tam and CBA President Bun Hon were unanimous on the need for the two associations to implement plans to promote cooperation between lawyers based on their existing relationship, especially in the field of human resources development.

The exchange of professional skills and the enhancement of lawyers’ role will actively contribute to ensuring legitimate rights and interests of each country’s citizens while serving the cause of national construction and development.

Earlier on in the day, the Vietnamese delegation met with Cambodian Secretary of State and Ministry of Justice Hy Sophea and the Vietnamese Embassy’s staff in Cambodia.

Vietnam-Thailand Joint Commission officials meet in Bangkok

A senior officials’ meeting within the first session of the Vietnam–Thailand Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) took place in Bangkok, Thailand on November 4.

At the event, the two sides tabled an array of cooperation issues regarding economics, trade, politics, security, defence, diplomacy, education and culture.

The session is held as the sides see growing bilateral relations, particularly since Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s recent visit to Thailand, in which the two countries’ ties were elevated to a strategic partnership.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will co-chair the JCBC’s session on November 5, during which the two sides are set to approve an action programme to implement their strategic partnership.

Vietnam and Thailand organised the first session of their Joint Committee on Trade Cooperation in 2012.

In the first nine months of 2013, two-way trade reached 5.4 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 14.2 percent.

With 315 projects worth 6.38 billion USD, Thailand now ranks ninth among countries and territories directly investing in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the latter is running nine projects, totalling over 12 million USD, in the former.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA