Prime Minister leaves for ASEAN-GCC Summit and visit Saudi Arabia

On October 18, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation leaving Hanoi to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit (GCC) and visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 18-20 at the invitation of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The official delegation with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attending the Conference included: Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien; Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung; Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung; Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet; Deputy Head of the Government Office Nguyen Xuan Thanh; Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam; Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong; Deputy Minister of Finance Cao Anh Tuan; Deputy Minister of Justice Tran Tien Dung.

After 33 years of establishing relations (1990) and 14 years (2009) through the Joint Vision, this is the first time ASEAN and GCC have held a Summit.

The conference is an important milestone in bringing the cooperation between the two regional organizations to a new level, meeting the needs of both sides.

In that context, relations between Vietnam and GCC member countries have developed very positively. Trade turnover between Vietnam and regional countries reached 12.5 billion USD.

The total foreign direct investment (FDI) capital of GCC countries in Vietnam currently reaches about 1 billion USD. Trade exchange between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia in 2022 will reach over 2.7 billion USD. Many large corporations and companies of Saudi Arabia are implementing investment projects in Vietnam.

Currently, about 4,000-5,000 Vietnamese workers are working in Saudi Arabia. However, there is still a lot of room for cooperation between Vietnam and the GCC countries in general and Saudi Arabia in particular.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this time is of great significance, both demonstrating with ASEAN countries a new mindset of independence, solidarity, and development, and consolidating political trust and improving the effectiveness of cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Thereby, contributing to strengthening the cooperative relationship between the two leading important organizations in Southeast Asia and the Gulf region, promoting cooperation, consolidating political trust, and improving the effectiveness of cooperation between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip continues to actively implement the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress and Directive 25 of the Secretariat on promoting and elevating multilateral diplomacy to 2030; sending a message of strong commitment and responsible contribution of a friendly, sincere, trustworthy Vietnam, ready to strengthen friendly relations, dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation, building a peaceful and stable regional and international environment with other countries.