Prime Minister receives leaders of major corporations and investment funds of Saudi Arabia

According to the Vietnam News Agency Special Envoy, on the occasion of attending the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the afternoon of October 19, local time, in the capital Riyadh of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received leaders of several large economic groups and investment funds of Saudi Arabia, including Aramco Group, Saudi Arabia Development Fund, and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Yasser M. Mufti, Executive Vice President of Aramco Group. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

* At the meeting with Mr. Yasser M.Mufti, Executive Vice President of Aramco Group and Mr. Mohammed Al-Khrashi, Assistant Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Yasser M.Mufti congratulated Vietnam on its great achievements in socio-economic development in recent times; wished to have investment opportunities in Vietnam when Vietnam is constructing a new oil refinery; requested the Vietnamese Government to create conditions for the Group to expand investment in Vietnam, first of all agreeing to allow the Group's technical delegation to enter Vietnam to survey and learn about the market.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed Aramco to invest in Vietnam in the oil and gas sector, especially Vietnam's large petrochemical refinery projects; develop trade cooperation in the fields of oil and gas, petrochemicals such as plastic beads, fertilizers, etc.

The Prime Minister asked Aramco to facilitate the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) to participate in oil and gas service provision activities in Saudi Arabia, to seek major projects for joint investment, and to support the training of oil and gas human resources. The Prime Minister suggested that PVN and Aramco should immediately arrange to work directly on the cooperation plan.

Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil and gas group is known to have achieved a record profit of more than 161 billion USD in 2022, up 46% compared to 110 billion USD in 2021, in the context of escalating energy prices, increased oil sales and increased profits from the industry's products. The group is aiming to invest in new low-carbon emission technologies, helping to limit polluting emissions...

* At the meeting with the leaders of the Saudi Arabia Development Fund, Mr. Sultan Al-Marshad, Executive Director of the Fund, said that in the past 13 years, the Fund has had 13 projects implemented in Vietnam; requested the Vietnamese Government to continue to create more favorable conditions for the Fund to operate effectively in Vietnam; committed to devoting more resources to projects in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Sultan Al-Marshad, Executive Director of the Saudi Arabia Development Fund. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the Saudi Arabia Development Fund for providing preferential loans to ODA projects in Vietnam with a total of 165 million USD. Loans from the Fund are of great significance to the projects and beneficiary localities, helping to complete infrastructure and improve the lives of people in remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas of Vietnam.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam is currently implementing three strategic breakthroughs, including a breakthrough in infrastructure development, especially transport infrastructure. Changing the mindset and development orientation, Vietnam needs to use more and more capital, so it wants to change the way of borrowing to invest in a more focused way, on a larger scale, in more important areas, with simpler procedures and greater incentives than previous projects.

To effectively implement cooperation in the coming time, the Prime Minister suggested that the two sides need to increase exchanges, coordination, and implementation of the commitments that have been achieved, including the commitment of the President of the Fund during his visit to Vietnam last September, bringing about specific and substantive results; contributing to further strengthening the comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

* On the same afternoon, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund - a fund managed by the Council for Economic and Development Affairs chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with an estimated capital of up to 620 billion USD, one of the 10 largest public investment funds in the world.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF). Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

At the meeting, Mr. Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that the Fund has currently invested 160 million USD in Vietnam through indirect investment; requested the Vietnamese Government to continue to create more favorable conditions for the Fund to operate effectively in Vietnam and committed to devoting more resources to larger projects in Vietnam to develop infrastructure.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the role of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund in promoting the development, transformation and diversification of the Saudi Arabian economy, contributing significantly to the successful implementation of the country's "Vision 2030" Strategy.

The Prime Minister said that economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia has made encouraging progress in recent times, but remains modest compared to its potential. To create a breakthrough for investment cooperation between the two countries in the coming time, the Prime Minister suggested that the Fund expand and diversify investment activities in the forms of direct, indirect, and multi-party cooperation... in priority areas of Vietnam such as digital transformation, green economy, circular economy, innovation, renewable energy, high technology, industry, tourism, Halal industry... especially transport infrastructure such as railways, inter-regional and urban connectivity and climate change response, especially in the Mekong Delta.

The Prime Minister also suggested that the two sides study the establishment of a joint investment fund to implement investment projects in each country, such as Vietnam and Oman and some other countries that have successfully implemented them; strengthen effective cooperation between investment agencies of the two countries, especially in sharing information and policies, introducing investment opportunities in potential projects in each country and strengthening cooperation in promoting investment in Vietnam...

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