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Unlocking Economic Opportunities: Strengthening the Vietnam-UAE Economic Partnership

1 November, 2024

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On October 28th, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a Vietnam-UAE business forum in Dubai, the financial hub of the UAE, the Middle East, and the world.

The forum was organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UAE, in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Investment and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

Also in attendance were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, leaders of ministries, sectors, and localities; Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade – Ministry of Economy; and over 200 representatives from leading groups and enterprises of the two countries.

Mr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economy UAE, considered the Prime Minister’s visit symbolic of the bilateral relationship. He praised Vietnam as an ideal partner with great market potential, the fastest-growing economy in ASEAN, and a long-term supporter of UAE’s food security goals.

Mr. Abdul-Aziz Abdulla Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, described Vietnam as a dynamic economy with a strategic location and a key partner of the UAE.

According to UAE statistics, bilateral trade reached $8.8 billion in 2023 and surpassed $6 billion in the first nine months of 2024.

At the forum, delegates were introduced to Vietnam’s investment and business environment, and enterprises shared their perspectives on investment cooperation opportunities in priority areas.

PROMOTING ECONOMIC, TRADE, AND INVESTMENT COOPERATION

In his speech, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted the significance of upgrading relations to a Comprehensive Partnership and concluding the negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during this visit. These milestones are crucial for boosting economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries’ enterprises.

The solid political relationship, friendly sentiments between the peoples, and the strategic locations of the UAE in the Middle East and Vietnam in Southeast Asia—two of the world’s most dynamic developing regions—provide an essential foundation, favorable conditions, and vast opportunities for businesses from both countries to collaborate and invest.

Vietnam is currently the largest trading partner of the UAE in Southeast Asia, while the UAE is Vietnam’s largest economic partner in the Middle East.

In addition to physical connectivity through various transportation means, the Prime Minister noted that the two countries are rapidly connecting through telecommunications and fiber optics. He added that they could soon be more closely connected through artificial intelligence.

“We should not miss the opportunity to connect our economies, our people, and our businesses,” the Prime Minister shared.

Acknowledging the positive results in trade cooperation, the Prime Minister encouraged enterprises to be more proactive in investment cooperation. This will rejuvenate traditional growth drivers (investment, exports, and consumption) and promote new ones, such as digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, sharing economy, knowledge economy, and emerging fields like AI, cloud computing, and IoT.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaking at the forum. Photo: VGP

Highlighting Vietnam’s significant development achievements over nearly 40 years of reform, the Prime Minister spent considerable time sharing the country’s foundational elements and key orientations in economic, social, foreign affairs, and integration, as well as ensuring national defense and security, cultural development, social welfare, Party and political system building, and anti-corruption efforts.

Moving forward, Vietnam remains steadfast in its commitment to building a socialist-oriented market economy, a socialist rule-of-law state, and a socialist democracy. The overarching principle is to place people at the center, considering them the goal, resource, and driving force of development.

The Prime Minister affirmed Vietnam’s dedication to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of businesses and investors, refraining from criminalizing civil, administrative, and economic relations, and fostering a public, transparent, equal, and healthy business environment. The spirit of “harmonious interests and shared risks,” “listening and understanding, sharing vision and action, doing, winning, enjoying, and developing together,” and “keeping promises and delivering tangible results” guides this commitment.

CONNECTING THE TWO ECONOMIES, PROMOTING MUTUAL ENHANCEMENT AND COMPLEMENTARITY

Going forward, with a policy of selective foreign investment attraction, Vietnam will prioritize projects in fields such as science and technology, innovation, research and development, green economy, digital economy, circular economy, knowledge economy, night-time economy, semiconductor production, new energy (such as hydrogen), renewable energy, green finance, developing financial centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, biotechnology, healthcare, electronic components, electric vehicles, strategic infrastructure development, market and product diversification, and supply chain diversification.

Inviting UAE businesses to invest in these areas, the Prime Minister assured that Vietnam would offer the most favorable conditions and maintain political stability, national defense, and security. Vietnam is committed to ensuring sufficient electricity and telecommunications infrastructure for the country’s transition and economic development.

Images: VGP

“We have a tremendous opportunity to connect our economies, promote mutual enhancement, and complement each other,” the Prime Minister emphasized. He illustrated this point by referring to the UAE’s strengths in services and emerging industries aligned with global trends and its population of nearly 10 million, in contrast to Vietnam’s agricultural prowess and population of over 100 million, including a young and abundant workforce.

The Prime Minister believes that Vietnam can guarantee food security for the UAE by producing and processing agricultural products according to UAE businesses’ orders. Vietnam is currently implementing a project to develop 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice fields in the Mekong Delta, focusing on “green, clean, and delicious” agricultural production.

The Prime Minister expressed his confidence that, building on the solid relationship between the two countries and combining the strengths of their people and intellectual resources, along with the investment and experience of enterprises, the collaboration between the two sides will yield tangible results. It will benefit the peoples of both countries, contribute to the economic development of the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and foster peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Following the forum, the Prime Minister and the delegates witnessed the signing of ten cooperation documents between enterprises of the two countries.