The economic cooperation forum with Middle East and North African partners will help boost cooperation between Vietnam and these countries, especially in trade and investment, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said. The PM made the statement while addressing the forum opened in Hanoi on November 4, during which he also said Vietnam and the Middle East-North African countries have great advantages and potential which can supplement each other for mutual cooperation and development.

Vietnam, with a stable socio-political environment and a potential market with skilful workers, is an attractive investment destination. Meanwhile, the Middle East-North Africa acts as a gateway for Asia, Europe and Africa, and possesses abundant natural resources with oil and gas reserves topping the world, the PM said.

He also asked the forum to propose specific initiatives and measures to improve the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms so that the governments of Vietnam and Middle East-North Africa countries can facilitate their enterprises’ operation.

Vietnam is implementing its socio-economic development strategy by 2020 with a focus on improving its institutions, legal system, infrastructure, and human resources quality in parallel with restructuring the economy for sustainable development, the PM said.

The country is negotiating such important free trade agreements as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Free Trade Agreement with the EU and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan among others, he said.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and the Middle East-North Africa region was US$7.4 billion last year, an 878 percent increase from 2002. Many investors in the region are doing business in Vietnam, especially in oil and gas, seaports, industry and property, while some Vietnamese enterprises have implemented projects in Middle East-North Africa, notably an oil and gas exploration and production project by the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group in Algeria with total capital of over US$200 million.