Azlan Othman
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (CNA, pic below) will pay official visits to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam from today to Saturday, the Vietnam Government Portal said.
Vietnam and the Sultanate established diplomatic relations in 1992.
Both nations have made new strides in their relationship since the establishment of a comprehensive partnership on the occasion of the state visit to Vietnam by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in March 2019.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visit by Pham Minh Chinh will be made after the two countries celebrated the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2022. The Vietnamese government leader will hold talks with His Majesty, visit enterprises and attend a workshop between enterprises of the two countries.
The two countries met the target of reaching the two-way trade value of over USD500 million before 2023.
As of October last year, their bilateral trade amounted to USD638.5 million, surging 141.1 per cent year-on-year.
The two-way trade value reached USD310 million in 2021 and USD458 million in the first half of 2022. Brunei Darussalam currently ranks 26th out of the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with total registered capital of USD971 million.
In the near future, the two sides have demand to boost joint work in promising areas such as agro-forestry-fisheries, halal food, construction, infrastructure and joint ventures.
