PM Anwar's Vietnam visit to contribute to deepening political trust - Vietnamese Ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's official visit to Vietnam from July 20-21 will contribute to increased political trust between the two nations, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Dinh Ngoc Linh.

The visit would help to foster the growth of bilateral ties along all fronts and provide a new framework for their further development, Linh told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

It will also create a new impetus for the implementation of the Action Programme to implement the Vietnam-Malaysia Strategic Partnership for the 2021-2025 period.

The improvement of bilateral cooperation in a number of areas, including politics, security and defence, economy, culture, tourism, employment, and people-to-people interactions, depends on this.

Additionally, he thinks that Anwar's visit would provide entrepreneurs from both countries the chance to seek out investment and cooperation while stepping up bilateral cooperation in response to current global concerns including energy security, food security, climate change, and digital transformation.

The leaders of the two countries will exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, including marine cooperation promotion and sea-based economic development, and coordination at regional and international forums, especially within the ASEAN framework, thus contributing to strengthening intra-regional solidarity and promoting ASEAN's centrality, he added.

According to Linh, Vietnam, and Malaysia are natural allies, linked by the similarity in geo-strategic position as well as the parallel interests in the region and the world.

Despite complex changes in the region and the rest of the world, the ambassador believes that in the coming time, the bilateral relationship will continue developing closely and effectively in all spheres, particularly politics, and economics.

The envoy emphasised that there is still a great deal of room for expanding economic cooperation and expressed his conviction that the goal of increasing bilateral trade to US$18 billion by 2025 can be achieved.

Two-way trade increased by 17.4 per cent year-on-year to US$14.68 billion in 2022.

-- BERNAMA