Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jasim Al-Thani (left) hosted a welcome ceremony for his Vietnamese counterpart Phahm Minh Chính at the Amiri Diwan Palace in Doha on October 31. The Vietnamese PM is paying an official visit to the Middle East country, which lasts to November 1. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

DOHA — Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jasim Al-Thani hosted a welcome ceremony at the Amiri Diwan Palace in Doha on Thursday for his Vietnamese counterpart Phạm Minh Chính, who is paying a two-day official visit to Qatar.

Following the ceremony, the two leaders held talks.

Qatar is the final stop on PM Chính's trip to three Middle East countries. This marks the first official visit by a Vietnamese Prime Minister to Qatar in 15 years and comes at a time when the bilateral relations are flourishing, yielding numerous tangible results. However, both sides have recognised that there remains significant potential to further enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in promising areas such as politics-diplomacy, economy, energy, tourism, and labour.

Therefore, the visit aims to promote the relationship in a more comprehensive and effective fashion, particularly in market opening, high-quality investment attraction, and cooperation in labour, education, culture, sports, tourism, people-to-people exchange, and climate change response, as well as emerging fields like science -technology, clean energy, digital transformation, innovation, and the Halal industry.

Việt Nam and Qatar officially established their diplomatic relations on February 8, 1993. Over the past 30 years, thanks to the efforts of high-ranking leaders and people of both countries, their multifaceted cooperation has seen significant developments in various fields.

Last year, two-way trade enjoyed a year-on-year surge of 32 per cent to US$497.2 million. Việt Nam's main imports included gas, plastics, and chemicals, while its key exports were aquatic products, electrical wires and cables, wooden products, and bamboo products. — VNS