Vietnam Malaysia trade forecast to surge to US $3 billion for 2007

PM Nguyen Tan Dung meets Malaysian counterpart

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met his Malaysian counterpart, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, after his arrival in Kuala Lumpur on August 30 for a three-day visit to celebrate the country’s 50th anniversary of Independence Day. PM Dung congratulated the Malaysian people on their great achievements over the past five decades of national construction and development. The Vietnamese Government leader expressed his delight at growing bilateral relations in all areas, particularly since Vietnam and Malaysia signed a joint statement on a comprehensive co-operation framework in the 21st century in April 2004. The two countries have seen big surges in two-way trade that stood at US $2.7 billion in 2006, a year-on-year increase of 26%, and reached US $1.7 billion in the first seven months of this year, he said, adding that the figure is forecast to reach US $3 billion for 2007. Vietnam is now home to more than 220 Malaysian-invested projects totalling US $2 billion. The figure puts Malaysia second among ASEAN investors in Vietnam, while 110,000 Vietnamese guest workers are now working in Malaysia. PM Dung proposed that the two nations should work together to increase the flow of Malaysian investment into power projects in Vietnam, co-operate in oil and gas exploration and exploitation on the continental shelf, boost labour co-operation, and encourage Vietnamese students to study in Malaysia. The two governments, he said, needed to entrust the ministerial-level joint committee to quickly undertake already signed agreements and continue to intensify co-operation in economy, security, national defence, and at the East Sea. The Vietnamese PM also called for closer ties in combating trans-national crime and conducting joint patrols and surveys on the common boundary at sea. Regarding the upcoming 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore, PM Dung said he believed that the meeting would adopt the ASEAN Charter to create a legal framework for the building of an ASEAN Community. PM Badawi, for his part, spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements, particularly its high economic growth, accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), successful hosting of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and a candidacy as the only Asian representative for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term. At the meeting, host and guest also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, and discussed ways to beef up co-ordination within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum. (VNA)