Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen substantive and effective cooperation with Kuwait.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. (Photo: Nhat Bac/VGP)

Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah expressed his pleasure at meeting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh again after their meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, during the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) four years ago.

The Crown Prince welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation on their official visit to Kuwait right before the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations; affirming that the visit has historical significance, opening a new phase of cooperation between the two countries.

The Crown Prince of Kuwait stressed that Kuwait is proud to be the first country in the Gulf region to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam and the two sides have achieved many results in cooperation over the past 49 years; he stressed the need for many meaningful activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations such as coordinating the organization of Vietnam Day in Kuwait and Kuwait Day in Vietnam.

The Crown Prince shared that talking about Vietnam means talking about a country that is at the forefront of food production, and this is the area where the two sides have a lot of potential for cooperation in food security.

The Crown Prince believes that with the strategic exchanges of the meeting between His Majesty King Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as well as the good and effective results of the talks between the two Prime Ministers as well as with the existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms between the two sides, the two countries will deepen their cooperative relations in the coming time.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. (Photo: Nhat Bac/VGP)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to further strengthen substantive and effective cooperation with Kuwait, Vietnam's important partner in the Middle East.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for Kuwait's valuable support for Vietnam over the years, especially in ODA aid and 600,000 doses of vaccine for Vietnam during the most difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed the regards and invitation to visit Vietnam from General Secretary To Lam and senior Vietnamese leaders to the Crown Prince and Kuwaiti leaders.

Pleased with the development of economic and trade relations with a trade turnover of more than 7 billion USD and assessing that the potential for cooperation between the two countries is still very large, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to pay attention to directing the promotion of cooperation in the fields of economics, trade, investment, energy, oil and gas, defense, security, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, labor, and education and training.

The Prime Minister asked Kuwait to support the early negotiation of the Vietnam-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) FTA and the initiation of negotiations on the Vietnam-Kuwait Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also proposed negotiating a long-term Framework Agreement on strategic commodities to ensure food security for Kuwait and projects to support the development of the Halal ecosystem in Vietnam.

The two leaders agreed to effectively promote existing cooperation mechanisms, including increasing the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, and soon studying the opening of direct flights between the two countries and signing a visa exemption agreement for ordinary passport holders to facilitate economic, trade, tourism and people-to-people cooperation.

View of the meeting. (Photo: Nhat Bac/VGP)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Kuwaiti investment funds and enterprises to step up investment and Kuwaiti enterprises to step up investment in potential sectors of Vietnam; at the same time, coordinate and create favorable conditions for the operation of the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Complex Project - a symbol of strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, the two leaders agreed that the two countries need to continue to closely coordinate at multilateral forums and support each other in expanding Vietnam's cooperative relations with the Gulf region and Kuwait's with ASEAN for the goals of peace, cooperation and sustainable development.

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah expressed their belief that the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Kuwait will continue to be strengthened and developed more strongly in the coming time, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries and contributing positively to peace, stability and common prosperity of the region and the world.

THANH GIANG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/viet-nam-luon-coi-trong-mong-muon-tang-cuong-hop-tac-thuc-chat-hieu-qua-voi-kuwait-post923824.html