Vietnam treasures and is ready to further intensify the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told Asharq Economy with Bloomberg on October 19, VNA reported.

During an interview granted to the financial news channel during his working visit to the Middle Eastern nation, the Vietnamese leader said the two countries’ cooperation results are encouraging but have yet to live up to potential, and that both sides still have much room for cooperation and also boast many complementary advantages, especially in their priority areas.

PM Pham Minh Chinh grants an interview to Asharq Economy with Bloomberg on October 19. Photo: VGP

He affirmed Vietnam’s readiness to further strengthen the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including during the implementation of the latter’s Vision 2030, announced by PM and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in May 2016 with a view to diversifying the economy, reducing the dependence on oil, and opening Saudi Arabia in cultural and social aspects.

Highly valuing Vision 2030, PM Chinh voiced his belief that Saudi Arabia will gradually realize the goals of this vision to establish itself as a leading trade, financial, aviation, and tourism hub in the Middle East and the world.

He opined that the two countries’ development strategies, visions, and orientations until 2030 share many similarities, especially the targeted breakthroughs in socio-economic development, the development based on science, technology, and innovation, and the priority given to digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, and climate change response.

The Vietnamese PM also said both sides should push ahead with implementing cooperation policies, programs, and projects after his visit.

PM Chinh also received leaders of the Aramco group and the Saudi Fund for Development in Riyadh capital of Saudi Arabia on the same day.

Executive Vice President of Aramco Yasser M. Mufti expressed his firm’s hope to have a chance to invest in Vietnam, which is working to build a new petrochemical plant. He proposed the Vietnamese Government create conditions for Aramco to expand investment in the country, firstly permitting the group’s technical team to come to survey the market.

PM Chinh welcomed Aramco’s plan to invest in Vietnam’s oil and gas sector, especially major petrochemical projects, and cooperate in the trading of oil, gas, and petrochemical products such as crude oil, liquefied gas, plastics, and fertilizer.

He called on Aramco to provide conditions for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) to participate in supplying oil and gas services in Saudi Arabia, seek large projects to jointly invest in, and assist with training oil and gas manpower.

PM Pham Minh Chinh receives the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development Sultan Al-Marshad in Riyadh on October 19. Photo: VNA

In a separate meeting, the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) Sultan Al-Marshad informed Chinh that the fund has implemented 13 projects in Vietnam over the past 13 years. He proposed the Vietnamese Government continue to create more favorable conditions for the fund to operate effectively in the country and pledged more resources for projects in Vietnam.

Chinh appreciated the SFD’s preferential loans worth USD 165 million for Vietnam's ODA projects, helping improve infrastructure and the living standards of Vietnamese people in remote and disadvantaged areas.

To ensure effective joint works in the future, the PM said both sides need to enhance exchanges, coordination, and fulfillment of their commitments, contributing to further strengthening comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

The same day, PM Pham Minh Chinh proposed the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia – one of the world’s 10 biggest public investment funds – expand and diversify investment activities in Vietnam's priority areas such as digital transformation, green economy, circular economy, innovation, renewable energy, high technology, tourism, and Halal industry.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that the fund has invested USD 160 million in Vietnam through indirect form.

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