Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits 3 countries with leading economies in the Middle East

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will pay official visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the State of Qatar, attend the 8th Future Investment Initiative Conference, and pay a working visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from October 27 to November 2, 2024.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will visit 3 countries with leading economies in the Middle East.

In a statement just released, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visits were made at the invitation of President of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Prime Minister of the State of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jasim Al-Thani; Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman.

This is the first visit by a Vietnamese Prime Minister to the UAE and Qatar in 15 years, the first official visit by a Vietnamese head of government to Saudi Arabia since the two countries established diplomatic relations.

All three countries are leading economies and energy powers in the Middle East. The relationship between Vietnam and the three countries is developing well with many substantial results.

The visit is of great significance in consolidating political trust, enhancing Vietnam's relations in both breadth and depth with other countries, creating momentum, opening a new phase of cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, especially creating a breakthrough in economic, trade and investment cooperation, bringing Vietnamese goods and services to the Gulf market.

*The UAE is the second largest economy in the Gulf region ; the leading financial and commercial center in the Middle East; the 4th largest oil producing country in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The UAE is aiming for sustainable development, establishing a leading position in new development trends in the world, implementing "UAE Vision 2031" (We the UAE 2031), aiming to make the UAE a global economic center and a successful development model for the world.

The UAE plays an important role in the Middle East - North Africa region; it values its ties with the Arab bloc and the Gulf. In recent years, the UAE has proactively promoted the trend of detente in the region and actively implemented the "Look East" policy, attaching importance to relations with Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Vietnam and the UAE established diplomatic relations on August 1, 1993. Vietnam-UAE trade turnover in recent years has always reached about 5 billion USD, of which the turnover in 2023 reached 4.7 billion USD, an increase of 6.8% compared to 2022. According to UAE statistics, trade exchange between the two countries in 2023 reached 8.8 billion USD.

As of June 2024, the UAE has a total of 41 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 71.6 million USD. The UAE owns many of the largest FDI investment funds in the world, of which the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority manages 853 billion USD, making it the fourth largest investment fund in the world.

*Qatar has strong economic potential, is one of the countries with the highest per capita income in the world ; is the leading financial and commercial center in the Middle East; the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Qatar's main resources are oil with reserves of 25.24 billion barrels (ranked 14th in the world), output of 1.53 million barrels/day; gas with reserves of more than 25,000 billion m3, ranked 3rd in the world (LNG). Qatar's economy is mainly based on the oil and gas exploitation and processing industry (about 85% of export revenue).

Implementing the strategy of diversifying the economy, Qatar focuses on developing non-oil and gas economic sectors such as chemical industry, fertilizer, iron and steel production, aluminum and especially prioritizes the development of service sectors such as aviation, seaports, banking, education, healthcare, and tourism.

Qatar is implementing its National Vision 2030 with the goal of making Qatar a developed country with advanced social infrastructure and high quality of life through the implementation of four policy pillars on economy, society, people and environment.

Qatar pursues a balanced foreign policy with regional and extra-regional powers. Qatar and Vietnam established diplomatic relations on February 8, 1993. Two-way trade turnover in 2023 reached 497 million USD (an increase of 32% compared to 2022).

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is participating in indirect investment (through Development Banks, Third Party Investment Funds) in a number of real estate and industrial projects in Vietnam with a total capital of about 500 million USD.

*Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Gulf region . As the cradle of Islam, Saudi Arabia has important influence in the Muslim world, Arab countries and oil exporting countries (OPEC).

With its main resource being oil, Saudi Arabia is the world's leading oil exporter (reserves of about 264.4 billion barrels, accounting for 20% of the world's reserves, output of 10-13 million barrels/day).

The country is vigorously implementing the "Vision 2030" strategy to diversify the economy, develop non-oil industries such as finance, manufacturing, high technology, agriculture, tourism, etc.; modern infrastructure with many mega-projects in urban areas, roads, airports, seaports, etc.

The Saudi Arabian government aims to become the leading political and economic center in the Middle East and the world by 2030. In particular, Saudi Arabia has recently focused on investing in green economy, digital transformation, innovation and has a high demand for experts in this industry.

Vietnam and established diplomatic relations on October 21, 1999. The relationship between the two countries has developed positively. The two sides regularly exchange delegations at all levels, coordinate and support each other at international forums.

In 2023, bilateral trade turnover reached nearly 2.7 billion USD. As of the end of December 2023, the Vietnamese community in Saudi Arabia had about 4,000 people, mainly workers sent by Vietnamese labor export companies.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-tham-3-nuoc-co-nen-kinh-te-hang-dau-trung-dong-382222.html