Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn hosted a reception for Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Khaleel on Friday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn hosted a reception on Friday for Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Khaleel who is in Hà Nội for the Signing Ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (Hanoi Convention).

Sơn expressed his appreciation for Khaleel's attendance on behalf of the Maldivian government at the convention signing ceremony and thanked the island nation for its steadfast support and close cooperation throughout Việt Nam's hosting of this international event.

The Deputy PM praised the sound friendship between the two countries over the past five decades, acknowledging the Maldives’ consistent backing for Việt Nam both bilaterally and at multilateral forums of the UN, most recently its support for Việt Nam’s election to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 tenure.

Abdulla Khaleel, for his part, praised Việt Nam's role as the host of the signing ceremony, emphasising the significance of the UN's first-ever convention addressing cybercrime. He expressed gratitude for the warm and thoughtful reception extended by Vietnamese authorities during his visit.

Describing Việt Nam as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, he stressed that the two nations share many similarities as they are maritime countries with long coastlines and extensive exclusive economic zones. He underscored their common interests in maintaining regional peace and stability, and in addressing non-traditional security challenges such as climate change and rising sea levels.

Both sides concurred to establish a dialogue mechanism between the two foreign ministries soon, accelerate the signing of cooperation agreements across areas to create legal foundations for advancing collaboration in key potential areas, including trade, tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, aquatic product processing, agriculture, and construction.

The Maldivian diplomat expressed interest in sending Maldivian business delegations to Việt Nam to learn from its expertise in aquaculture and seafood processing. Maldives was ready to share experience in its flagship sectors such as tuna fishing and processing as well as tourism development, he said, calling on Vietnamese enterprises to explore investment opportunities in building tourism infrastructure and accommodation facilities in Maldives - a sector of great potential and strong profitability.

Sơn and Khaleel agreed to bolster people-to-people exchanges through encouraging airlines to open direct routes and putting in place policies facilitating travel for citizens and businesses of both sides.

They affirmed to strengthen cooperation and support each other at multilateral forums, especially backing each other’s candidacies for key UN bodies. VNA/VNS