The United Arab Emirates affirmed its willingness to share expertise with Vietnam in establishing a financial center in Ho Chi Minh City and to invest in this project, as part of a joint statement issued by the two nations on the elevation of their bilateral ties to a comprehensive partnership.

The upgrade took place in Abu Dhabi on Monday during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the Middle Eastern country through Tuesday.

To realize the full potential of this partnership, both countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in politics, diplomacy, security, defense, law, and judicial affairs.

They will reinforce bilateral engagement at all levels and introduce new collaboration mechanisms, including sector-specific partnerships and cooperation in regional and global initiatives.

Their defense cooperation will cover defense industry, crime prevention, joint training exercises, and research.

Both sides emphasized the importance of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and globally, committing to maintaining their collaboration in international and regional forums.

They pledged to proactively implement the freshly-signed comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), with the goal of raising bilateral trade to US$20 billion.

Both nations committed to fostering investment in sectors like oil and gas, renewable energy, information technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, logistics, manufacturing, and agricultural processing.

Aside from expressing its readiness to offer support for Vietnam to develop a financial hub in Ho Chi Minh City, the UAE will assist in human resource development and establish Halal certification centers in Vietnam, contributing to global supply chain needs.

With green and energy transitions as both countries’ top priorities, PM Chinh and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan encouraged the private sectors of both nations to enhance cooperation in areas including green and renewable energy, liquefied natural gas, oil and gas production, refining, and petrochemicals. 

The UAE will facilitate Vietnam’s access to a secure petroleum supply and support high-quality petroleum services such as mechanics, operations, and maintenance.

As both nations acknowledged the global importance of addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development, they welcomed increased cooperation in developing policy mechanisms, technical solutions, and financial strategies for a fair energy transition and emissions reduction.

They also pledged close collaboration in digital transformation, innovation, and science and technology through knowledge-sharing, modernization of government capabilities, digital government and economy development, and connecting innovation centers in both countries.

The CEPA was signed in Dubai on Monday afternoon (local time) in the presence of PM Chinh and UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The deal is the first free trade agreement that Vietnam has established with an Arab nation, underscoring both nations’ strong commitment to advancing their partnership and marking a historic step for Vietnam’s expansion into Middle Eastern markets.

This agreement is expected to bring balanced benefits for both sides, including increased delegation exchanges, political trust-building, and the formation of joint working groups to support the Vietnam - UAE comprehensive partnership.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, CEPA covers such areas as goods trade, services-investment, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs, trade remedies, government procurement, intellectual property, and legal and institutional affairs.

Under the CEPA, the UAE has pledged to phase out tariffs on 99 percent of Vietnam’s exports, while Vietnam has committed to removing tariffs on 95 percent of the UAE’s exports.

The deal also includes various provisions facilitating trade and investment, aligning with digital transformation and green development trends.

The ministry believed that the deal will pave the way for Vietnam to boost the export of its staple products to the UAE and to Middle Eastern, West Asian, and African markets.

This agreement also offers Vietnam access to advanced technology, capital, and high-quality services from the UAE, allowing the Southeast Asian nation to reduce production costs and improve competitiveness.

In related news, PM Chinh hosted a reception for National Security Advisor of the UAE and Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

PM Chinh affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to supporting UAE and Abu Dhabi investors, encouraging cooperation in security, technology, and research for crime prevention, anti-trafficking efforts, intelligence sharing, and coordinated investigations.

As chairman of G42 Group, which specializes in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, Zayed Al Nahyan expressed his desire to invest in Vietnam to promote the application of technology solutions in various fields and foster the development of digital services in the Southeast Asian nation.

The top Vietnamese official also met with Arif Amiri, chief executive officer of the Dubai International Financial Center, in Dubai on the same day, where PM Chinh suggested that the center cooperate with Vietnam in developing financial services and supporting the development of the Ho Chi Minh City financial center project.

Arif Amiri advised Vietnam to focus on strengthening its financial services sector and expressed his willingness to share experience in building a financial center.

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