Prime Minister's special meeting with young Vietnamese engineers in Saudi Arabia

(Dan Tri) - After nearly 2 hours of discussion and meeting with representatives of young Vietnamese engineers in Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister heard the "heartfelt" words with many proposals and wishes to contribute to the homeland of the children far away from home.

The meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with representatives of the Embassy's staff and young Vietnamese engineers in Saudi Arabia, was quite special, taking place at 10 p.m. and lasting nearly 2 hours on the evening of October 29 (local time). "Thank you for patiently waiting until now, when I finished my last activity of the day," the Prime Minister said. He was very impatient to see people waiting, but also very proud to hear everyone express their sincere thoughts, expressing their worries and concerns about their homeland and country. Vietnamese engineers earn 8,000-16,000 USD in Saudi Arabia. Reporting to the Prime Minister, Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung expressed his pride that despite many instabilities in the world , Vietnam is still a bright spot highly appreciated by international friends.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with officials, staff of the Embassy and Vietnamese engineers in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Doan Bac).

Sharing positive information compared to a year ago, Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung said that Vietnamese workers in Saudi Arabia used to mainly work as maids, but now there are more and more highly skilled workers. Currently, there are 45 Vietnamese engineers participating in all stages of production of Ceer Company - the first electric car company in Saudi Arabia, with an income of 8,000-16,000 USD per month, according to the Ambassador. Female engineer Hoang Thai Ngoc (working at Ceer Company) made many recommendations to the head of the Government on promoting bilateral cooperation so that Vietnamese people have better job opportunities, bringing more highly qualified Vietnamese people to work; finding solutions to bring Vietnamese agricultural products and dry vermicelli and pho products to the Saudi Arabian market; early recognition of driver's licenses between the two countries...

Female engineer Hoang Thai Ngoc made many proposals to the head of the Vietnamese Government (Photo: Doan Bac).

Ms. Thu (whose husband is working at Ceer Company) shared the interesting thing that many Saudi Arabians know and love Vietnam because of its culinary and coffee characteristics. A friend of hers said that he loves Vietnamese coffee and wants to connect with Vietnamese businesses to build a coffee roasting factory in Saudi Arabia, as well as develop a Vietnamese coffee chain here. "Hearing that, I am very happy and proud. Vietnam is considered the fastest growing country in Southeast Asia, has an abundant and high-quality young workforce, and has unique culinary features. We hope this pride will spread more and be stronger," Ms. Thu said and suggested that there will be many activities to promote the beauty of Vietnamese culture in Saudi Arabia.

Ms. Thu recommends that the Government have many activities to promote the beauty of Vietnamese culture in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Doan Bac).

Engineer Le Vu Tien Hieu (working at Ceer Company) said that people in the company and in the capital Riyadh are very interested in and love Vietnamese cuisine. He hopes that the Prime Minister will have a solution to introduce Vietnamese culinary culture and tourism to Saudi Arabia, to create conditions to connect the two countries. The male engineer also hopes that the Prime Minister will promote bilateral cooperation so that everyone has the opportunity to work long-term here, and research to open direct flights from Vietnam to Middle Eastern countries for convenient travel to study and work. Sharing the same proposal, Ms. Dao Thuy Linh (representative of FPT Vietnam in the Middle East) pointed out that bringing Vietnamese engineers to this region is a big obstacle, because the shortest flight from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi to here must transit in Dubai or Doha, each flight lasts 11-12 hours. She also hopes that the Government will have a solution to bring Vietnam to the potential Middle East through promoting culture, cuisine, and very potential fields of Vietnam. Another male engineer shared that he always thinks about his country when working far from home. He hopes that the Government will create favorable conditions and research to reduce domestic housing prices so that when he returns, he can buy a house and contribute to the country. Promoting direct flights and labor cooperation Moved by sincere words, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sympathized with the people when they had to leave their families to work in a faraway country with a different culture. The Prime Minister said that during the meeting with leaders of other countries, many people said they were "fans of Vietnam", so he was very proud of that. But to connect the fastest and most conveniently, according to the Prime Minister, it is necessary to promote transportation, especially aviation. He assigned the Ministry of Transport and related units to calculate the opening of direct flights to this area.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh answered many opinions and suggestions from representatives of young Vietnamese engineers in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Doan Bac).

Informing that Saudi Arabia has a population of 33 million but still lacks labor, the Prime Minister emphasized that there will be solutions to send workers here because human resources are what Saudi Arabia needs and Vietnam has strengths. Providing more information about the country's situation, the Prime Minister said that although the world is facing difficulties, Vietnam is forecast to grow by 7%, being recognized as one of the countries with the highest growth rates in the world and the region. With the assessment that the development space is still vast, the Prime Minister believes that if Vietnam continues to innovate more strongly, it will develop further. "The important thing is to continue reforming to have an open system and promote all resources," the Prime Minister said. With the recommendation on introducing Vietnamese culinary culture, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study the form so that more people can know about Vietnam through these characteristics. He suggested that we could send well-trained Vietnamese people to support restaurant construction, participate in trade and service related organizations, etc. to develop Vietnamese restaurants in the Middle East, and build Vietnamese coffee and pho brands here to contribute to promoting the image of Vietnam.

Prime Minister and his wife with embassy officials and overseas Vietnamese in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Doan Bac).

Regarding housing prices, the Prime Minister said this is also a problem. Over the past 10 years, the real estate market has had some problems when it has not promoted social housing, and there has been no purchase and hire-purchase policy so that low-income people and new graduates can access housing. However, the Housing Law recently passed by the National Assembly has this policy, so he hopes that in the coming time, the housing issue will have positive developments. On the Embassy side, the Prime Minister requested that it is necessary to always protect the legitimate and legal rights and interests of the people; to solve the work for the people as if they were family members with the motto of being the fastest, most timely and most effective. Hoai Thu (From Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)