On October 30, during his visit and participation at the 8th Future Investment Initiative Summit in Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Affirming that Vietnam values its friendly and cooperative relationship with Pakistan, Prime Minister Chinh expressed a desire to deepen this partnership, particularly in trade, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Prime Minister Chinh acknowledged that economic and trade cooperation remains limited, falling short of the strong political ties between the two nations.

With a combined market of over 300 million people, he emphasized that both countries have vast potential for expanding trade cooperation. The Prime Minister underscored the importance of further opening markets and strengthening ties through determination and concerted efforts.

He also recommended organizing more business, investment, and tourism forums to foster understanding, increase information sharing, and build a foundation for deeper, more meaningful bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif fully agreed with Prime Minister Chinh’s approach to prioritizing time and intellectual collaboration, emphasizing a new mindset and vision from both leaderships.

Sharif proposed the ambitious trade target of $10 billion and expressed his eagerness to welcome Prime Minister Chinh and other Vietnamese leaders to Pakistan.

With a shared commitment to elevating bilateral relations, the two Prime Ministers agreed to enhance delegation exchanges, particularly high-level exchanges between foreign ministers and ministers of key sectors, such as information technology, agriculture, science and technology. They also expressed a desire to collaborate in new areas like digital transformation, green transition, and circular economy.

Exploring trade agreements with Egypt

Earlier, on October 29, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

Prime Minister Chinh acknowledged Egypt’s influential role in the region and on multilateral platforms, praising the values of the Nile civilization.

Building on their traditional friendship and strong political trust, Prime Minister Chinh proposed further advancing relations in all areas to elevate the partnership to new heights.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly highlighted Egypt’s status as one of the first Middle Eastern and African nations to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1963, reaffirming Egypt’s appreciation for its relationship with Vietnam. He reiterated his admiration for President Ho Chi Minh.

Egypt’s Prime Minister expressed his eagerness to strengthen ties with Vietnam and emphasized that Vietnamese businesses investing in Egypt would benefit from free trade agreements Egypt holds with Arab nations.

Both leaders agreed to explore and negotiate agreements to establish a legal framework for bilateral trade.

They noted that both economies complement each other and have substantial untapped potential. They agreed to explore bilateral trade cooperation frameworks to increase trade volumes in the near future.

Prime Ministers Pham Minh Chinh and Mostafa Madbouly also encouraged mutual investments in electric vehicles, software development, renewable energy, solar power, green transition, and digital transformation. They committed to promoting training, cultural exchanges, and tourism to foster deeper mutual understanding.

Thu Hang