Welcome ceremony with 21-gun salute held for Vietnamese PM

The visit, the first of its kind of a Prime Minister of Vietnam over the past 15 years, is taking place in the context that the bilateral relations are developing well across all fields, especially politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, labour and tourism.

Political trust and mutual understanding between the two nations have been consistently consolidated, reflected through vibrant delegation exchanges at different levels.

PM Chinh’s visit is expected to create fresh impetus for traditional areas of cooperation, create breakthroughs in potential fields, and, above all, establish a firm political trust to pave the way for a new phase of cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE.

This is a practical step in realising the 13th National Party Congress’s foreign policy of multilateralisation and diversification of external ties, active and proactive international integration, with a priority to the diversification of markets, partners and supply chains, contributing to reinforcing an environment of peace and cooperation, while maximising resources for national development.

In Vietnam's foreign policy, the UAE represents Vietnam's largest export market in the Middle East and Africa, with last year's two-way trade reaching US$4.7 billion. In the first seven months of this year, Vietnam's exports to the UAE surged by 51% on- year to US$3.37 billion. The two countries are negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with a view to finalizing the negotiations during the PM’s visit. As of June 2024, the UAE had 41 projects valued at US$71.6 million in Vietnam, and there were roughly 3,000 Vietnamese workers in the UAE.

During the visit, both sides are expected to upgrade the bilateral relations and sign the Vietnam-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), striving to soon achieve the target of 10 billion USD in trade turnover in the near future and even higher in the following years, and opening up a new era of cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE, as well as with countries in the Middle East.