Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy PrimeMinister Le Minh Khai received visiting Saudi Arabian Minister of Tourism Ahmedbin Aqeel-Khateeb in Hanoi on August 28, affirming that Vietnam attachesimportance to the enhancement of the friendship and multifaceted cooperationwith Saudi Arabia, an important partner in the Middle East.

As the two countries will celebratethe 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2024, Khai askedboth sides to coordinate in holding various activities on that occasion, especiallypromoting tourism and cultural exchanges to help improve mutual understandingbetween the two peoples.

Applauding progress in bilateralcooperation, he expressed his hope that Vietnam will expand connections withnot only Saudi Arabia but also others in the Arab and Muslim communities.

Saudi Arabia is one of Vietnam’s leading economic partners in the Middle East,with bilateral trade surging 32.4% year on year to 2.7 billion USD in 2022, hesaid, noting that he hopes investment links between the two sides, including ingreen energy development, will grow more fruitfully in the coming time.

The official called on Saudi Arabiato help Vietnam develop the Halal industry and access the Halal goods andservice markets in Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries through production investment,manpower training, and experience sharing.

He also suggested the Middle Eastern nation to import more products of Vietnam's strength such as rice, tea, peppercorn, coffee, rubber, and apparel.

Talking about the Saudi Fund forDevelopment (SFD), the host proposed Ahmed bin Aqeel-Khateeb, who is also SFD Chairman,keep supporting Vietnam’s cooperation with the fund so as to promote thecontinued provision of concessional loans for social security projects in theSoutheast Asian country.

Since the Saudi Arabian ministeralso serves as head of the Executive Council of the UN World Tourism Organisation(UNWTO), Khai thanked the organisation for assisting Vietnam with tourism planning and tourismproduct development. He asked his guest as the UNWTO leader to promote thisorganisation’s support for and coordination with Vietnam to hold major UNWTOevents here.

The Deputy PM also called on SaudiArabia to help Vietnam develop tourism infrastructure and the products thatArabian people have demand for to boost tourism connectivity between the twocountries.

Congratulating Vietnam on the coming National Day (September 2), Ahmed binAqeel-Khateeb highlighted the two countries’ cooperation results for the lastover 20 years.

He said he hopes Vietnam and SaudiArabia will press on with partnerships in such fields as energy (petrochemistryand green energy), investment, manufacturing, culture, the Halal industry,tourism, and sports.

The minister affirmed that SaudiArabia will do its utmost to assist Vietnamese businesses to make investment inthe country and others in the Middle East./.