Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam - Malaysia Friendship Association (VMFA) underthe Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) hosted a friendship exchangein Hanoi on September 19 as part of activities to mark the 61st anniversary of Malaysia’sNational Day.

Atthe event, Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) CentralCommittee cum Chairman of the VMFA Ngo Sach Thuc sent his congratulations to MalaysianAmbassador to Vietnam Zamruni Khalid, and asked the diplomat to convey his bestwishes to Malaysian leaders and people on the occasion.

While expressing his joy at great achievements across fields of Malaysia,stressing that Malaysia has enjoyed high economic growth of about 5 percent.The country’s economic growth in 2018 is likely to reach 5-5.5 percent.

The country also recorded positive development in terms of culture, education, science-technologyand social security, while the local people’s living conditions have been improved,and the nation’s position and international prestige has been raised.

Over the last 45 years, the Vietnam-Malaysia friendship and multifaceted cooperationhave been bolstered across fields from politics, trade, security-defence,culture, labour and tourism.

As the key forces in promoting the friendship between the two countries’people, the VUFO, the VMFA and Malaysian partners have made positive contributionsin recent years.

Many practical activities such as exchange and art performance have beenorganised by the two organisations, contributing to enhancing mutualunderstanding between the two people, thus promoting the bilateral relations.

Thuc hoped for closer coordination and more effective support of one another betweenthe VMFA and the Malaysian Embassy in Vietnam in the coming time, contributingto pushing the friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

For his part, Malaysian Ambassador Zamruni Khalid was pleased to announce thatVietnam and his country have reached important milestones in economic ties,especially in investment, trade and tourism cooperation.

Malaysian is the seventh largest investor in Vietnam with a total investment of12.2 billion USD. Malaysian firms mainly invest in real estate, production,banking and oil and gas sectors.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Malaysia hit over 11 billion USF in 2017.Vietnam’s key exports to Malaysia are mobile phone, electronic products andrice.

Regarding tourism links, over 480,000 Malaysians visited Vietnam in 2017,ranking tenth among the largest tourism markets of Vietnam.

AmbassadorZamruni Khalid said with the increasing number of flights between the twocountries, the number Malaysian tourists to Vietnam will increase.

Hebelieved that the Vietnam-Malaysia Strategic Partnership would be closer in thetime to come. -VNA