(VOVworld) – An economic cooperation forum between Vietnam and the Middle East-North Africa opened on Monday in Hanoi. The event aimed to create an impetus to foster friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two sides.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung spoke at the economic cooperation forum between Vietnam and the Middle East-North Africa (Source: VOV)

Opening the forum, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said despite geographic distance, Vietnam, the Middle East and Northern Africa countries have had a traditional friendship and cooperation, shared aspirations for peace and independence and assisted one another in the struggles for national liberation as well as in present-day national construction and defense: "The vigorous development in science and technology, increasing economic cooperation between countries, regions and around the globe in the 21^st century have created great opportunities for development. However, many regions are still facing poverty, conflicts, wars and the aftermaths of war. Natural disasters, environmental pollution, epidemics and the dwindling of water and natural resources are great challenges for all of us. Difficulties in economic development have made some countries fail to achieve their development goals. In this context, economic cooperation for prosperity, poverty reduction, the implementing of the UN Millennium Development Goals and narrowing the gap between countries are key factors in building and enhancing strategic trust between countries for peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development".
Prime Minister Dung affirmed that the Vietnamese government hopes the Forum for Economic Cooperation between Vietnam and Middle Eastern and North African Partners will add fresh impetus to bilateral cooperation, primarily in economics, trade, investment, oil and gas, and labor.

In the afternoon’s discussion, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern and North African representatives proposed specific measures to boost cooperation in energy, trade and infrastructure development which are major fields of potential for the two sides. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong said: "In the coming years, Vietnam will give priority to developing our infrastructure and diversifying investment forms. With such great potential, the Middle East and North Africa have a number of financial funds which are able to provide preferential credits for Vietnam’s infrastructure development projects. The Ministry of Transport welcomes Middle Eastern and North African partners to Vietnam to invest in the near future". 

The Algerian ambassador to Vietnam, Cherif Chikhi, spoke highly of the potential for cooperation with Vietnam: "The 5-year program also plans the development of the infrastructure. The highway connecting Eastern and Western border of Algeria along the Mediterranean coast with the distance over 1,200 km will soon be completed. Many Vietnamese are working in some sites related to this project. The trade between Vietnam and Algeria is still modest but the two countries possess great potentials to ensure substantial increase. I believe  the forum will create hundreds of opportunities for enterprises of Vietnam and Algeria". 

There were also meetings between sectors, ministries and local Vietnamese enterprises with Middle Eastern and North African partners.