Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani have agreed to elevate the bilateral relations to new heights, with economic, trade, and investment cooperation as an important pillar.

The two officials reached the agreement during their talks in Doha on Thursday as part of PM Chinh’s official visit to the Middle East country from October 30 to November 1.

PM Al Thani praised Chinh’s visit, calling it a significant milestone that added momentum to advancing the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries to a deeper level.

PM Chinh, meanwhile, highly valued Qatar’s vision and capability for governance of national development, expressing his desire for stronger cooperation in the time ahead for the sake of the two countries and peoples.

Reflecting on 31 years of productive cooperation, the two leaders agreed to soon elevate bilateral relations, focusing on economic, trade, and investment partnerships.

They were committed to facilitating market access for each country’s key exports, such as Vietnam’s agricultural products, seafood, footwear, and apparel, as well as Qatar’s energy and chemical goods.

PM Chinh also requested Qatar’s support in developing Vietnam’s Halal industry, particularly in experience sharing, technology transfer, production, and processing.

He urged both sides to speed up negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and Qatar, as well as between the Southeast Asian nation and the Gulf Cooperation Council in the coming time.

The Vietnamese government leader also hoped that Qatari investment funds would further increase their investment in Vietnam, centering on strategic infrastructure, energy, seaports, and agricultural and aquaculture production and processing.

Chinh emphasized that Vietnam always supports and creates favorable conditions for Qatari investment funds and enterprises to invest and do business in Vietnam.

He and AI Thani shared that security and defense, including cybersecurity, should become a pillar in bilateral cooperation.

The host and guest also promised to foster collaboration in information technology, digital transformation, green transformation, sustainable development, and climate change response.

Both sides emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges by boosting cooperation in culture, tourism, and education to strengthen friendship and solidarity, supporting the expansion of ties in other areas.

PM Al Thani agreed to PM Chinh’s proposal to increase scholarships for Vietnamese students and to ease the admission of Vietnamese workers, particularly those who are highly skilled and already residing in Qatar.

The two officials also agreed to consider negotiating a visa exemption agreement for holders of ordinary passports to facilitate travel among people from the two countries.

Following their talks, both leaders witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements between ministries and agencies of both countries.

Earlier on the same day, PM Chinh had meetings with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Speaker of the Shura Council (Consultative Assembly) of Qatar Hassan bin Abdulla Al-Ghanim.

Qatar and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1993, with their trade reaching US$497.2 million last year, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Middle Eastern country currently has one processing-manufacturing project in Vietnam with a registered capital of $3.23 million.

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