PM’s visits to strengthen ASEAN ties

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dung will pay an official visit to Malaysia from August 7-8, where he is expected to witness the signing of several co-operation deals, including an oil and gas agreement between PetroVietnam and a Malaysian partner.

He is also expected to meet with leaders of Malaysia’s leading firms, including CIMB Bank, oil and gas giant Petronas, automobile manufacturer Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad, and C.H.E Malaysia.

Currently C.H.E is co-operating with a Vietnamese partner to build a thermal power plant, fired by rice husks, in the southern province of Hau Giang. This project has total capital of $31 million, sourced from EximBank Malaysia and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam.

During this visit, Dung will hold bilateral talks with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Bin Tun Haji Abdul Rajak, and is expected to meet with several other leaders as well.

The expansion of investment and trade will be one of the main topics of discussion during the visit.

The two nations’ bilateral trade turnover rose from $5.5 billion in 2010 to $8.1 billion last year, with this year’s first five months already amassing over $3 billion.

As of June 20, Malaysia had 498 valid investment projects totalling $10.9 billion in Vietnam, while the latter had 11 valid investment projects in the former with total registered capital of $813 million.

During his August 9 visit to Singapore, Dung will attend celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s National Day, and will meet with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He is also expected to meet with a number of large Singaporean firms, including Ascendas Pte Ltd, EOB and Banyan Tree.

While EOB wants to establish a bank with 100 per cent foreign capital in Vietnam, Ascendas and Vietnam’s Saigon Bund Capital partners in 2014 signed a joint venture deal to build a $130-million business park in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam-Singapore trade turnover hit $9.8 billion last year, with a further $4.5 billion in the first five months of this year.

As of June 20, Singapore had 1,425 valid investment projects registered with $33.2 billion in Vietnam.

From August 3-6, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will also travel to Malaysia to attend the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

Earlier, Minh officially visited Japan from July 29-31 to co-chair the 7th Vietnam-Japan Co-operation Committee, where he met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Japan promised to expedite the procedures for approving new loans to Vietnam this fiscal year, including six supplementary projects worth ¥280 billion yen ($2.27 billion).