Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc is paying an official visit to Kuwait from October 26 – 27, the firsttrip to the Middle East nation by a Vietnamese leader in 10 years, which isexpected to help solidify the countries’ relations.

With diplomatic ties established on January 10,1976, Kuwait was the first member of the Gulf Cooperation Council and also oneof the first Middle Eastern countries to form a diplomatic relationship withVietnam.

It was also where Vietnam opened its first tradeoffice in the Middle East in 1993.

Bilateral relations have witnessed remarkableturning points since the beginning of the 21st century. Official visits by thenKuwaiti PM Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2007 and then Vietnamese PMNguyen Tan Dung in 2009 set new milestones in the two countries’ connections.

After Vietnam opened its embassy in Kuwait in2003, Kuwait was the first among members of the Gulf Cooperation Council toopen an embassy and consulate general in Vietnam in 2007.

Existing bilateral cooperation mechanismsinclude a joint committee, an inter-governmental committee, and politicalconsultation between the two foreign ministries.

Both countries have continually supported eachother at multilateral forums, including Kuwait’s backing of Vietnam’s candidacyfor a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2020 –2021.

Meanwhile, bilateral economic, trade andinvestment links have been thriving. 

Kuwait is a major Middle Eastern trade partnerof Vietnam. Annual trade soared from about 700 million USD in 2011 – 2014 tosome 2.6 billion USD in 2018, with Vietnam running a trade deficit of over 2.5billion USD, mainly due to oil imported from Kuwait. The Southeast Asiancountry’s main exports include textiles and garments, seafood, timber and woodenproducts, computers, electronic products, fruit and vegetables, footwear andceramics.

In February 2016, the Kuwaiti Government recognisedthe market economy in Vietnam.

Regarding investment partnerships, the KuwaitPetroleum Corporation is involved in Vietnam’s Nghi Son refinery andpetrochemical complex project, which has total investment capital of 9 billionUSD. The complex, which went into operation in December 2018, is the biggestoil refinery Kuwait is partnered with in Asia, with a capacity of 200,000barrels per day. This meets 40 percent of Vietnam’s petrol and oil demand.

Vietnam began sending workers to Kuwait in 1996,and has about 1,300 labourers there at present, mostly in the construction andpetroleum industries.

Kuwait provides five Arabic languagescholarships for Vietnamese students each year. The number of Kuwaiti touriststo the ASEAN nation has also been surging in recent years, with expectedyear-on-year growth of 60 percent in 2019.

Over the past years, the two sides have signedseveral agreements, including a framework agreement on economic, scientific andtechnical cooperation; a trade agreement; an air transport agreement; aprotocol on cooperation between the two foreign ministries; an investmentfacilitation and protection agreement; a cooperation deal between theVietnamese and Kuwaiti chambers of commerce and industry; a double-taxationavoidance agreement; another on culture – art cooperation; and a memorandum ofunderstanding on sports cooperation.

So far, Vietnam has signed deals to borrow 57.75million Kuwaiti dinars (about 190 million USD) from the Kuwait Fund for 16projects, seven of which are being implemented.

Additionally, the Kuwaiti Government also offerednon-refundable aid of 3 million USD in 2013 and 225,000 USD in 2017 to addressfloods in Vietnam.

The upcoming official trip to Kuwait by PMNguyen Xuan Phuc will be an important occasion for both sides to review theirbilateral relations and discuss ways to drive cooperation forwards, especiallyin the fields of energy, oil and gas, agriculture, labour and tourism./.