Mr Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Director, ADNOC Executive Office, welcomes Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng (R) to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). — VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese Government will continue reforming the business environment to facilitate firms from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) investing in Việt Nam, striving to lift the bilateral trade turnover to US$10 billion.

That was the message delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng during his ongoing visit to the UAE at the invitation of the country's government.

Deputy PM Dũng noted the positive economic co-operation between the two nations in the past but said many sectors were still untapped, especially in trade, investment, energy (oil and gas, and renewable energy), infrastructure development, tourism and labour.

He expected the UAE would facilitate the entry of Vietnamese goods in the Middle East and other markets as well as the stable life of Vietnamese workers there.

The Middle East’s second largest economy is among Việt Nam’s leading trade and investment partners in the region, with bilateral trade rising from $5.2 billion in 2014 to $6.3 billion in 2017.

The country is also Việt Nam’s seventh largest export market. Products shipped to the UAE include mobile phones, computers, electrical products, pepper, seafood, footwear, textiles, cashew nuts, rice, tea, fruit and vegetables and furniture.

During the past two days, Vietnamese Deputy PM met Minister of State in the Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Jaber and Minister of Energy and Industry Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui.

The UAE representatives spoke highly about the increasing role of Việt Nam in the region and the world, congratulating Việt Nam for its achievements in foreign relations and economic development, especially Việt Nam has just been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-21 term.

The UAE's side said Việt Nam is its priority market in Southeast Asia and committed to long-term investment in the country, not only in the traditional field of oil and gas but other areas including infrastructure and smart urban development.

To realise the goal of $10 billion trade turnover, the two sides agreed to build an overall action plan soon, regularly exchange visits to create trust and understanding, while strengthening business discussion to establish timely and effective information exchanges. — VNS