Vietnam signs first free trade agreement with an Arab country

Within the framework of his official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the afternoon of October 28, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had talks with UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his pleasure to return to visit the Emirate of Dubai, the leading economic and financial center of the region and the world.

The Prime Minister congratulated the UAE on successfully hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in December 2023, making a strong mark in the process of accelerating the implementation of climate change goals.

The Prime Minister praised the important achievements of Dubai in particular and the UAE in general in national construction and development and believed that the UAE will successfully achieve the goal of "Vision 2031".

The Prime Minister conveyed the greetings of General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to the UAE leaders.

The Prime Minister thanked the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister for his good feelings towards Vietnam, affirming that the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister's official visit to Vietnam in 2007 was a historic milestone, contributing to promoting bilateral relations today.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also shared with the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE about Vietnam's important achievements since 2007, especially in the economic field when the country's GDP increased nearly 5 times from about 100 billion USD to about 480 billion USD in 2024 if economic growth reaches 7%.

UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to the UAE, affirming that the visit contributes to further enhancing the good bilateral relations.

The UAE Vice President and Prime Minister congratulated Vietnam on its strong and rapid development in all fields, expressed his affection and love for the country and people of Vietnam, and wished to soon return to visit Vietnam to see Vietnam's achievements in development and innovation since 2007.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Vietnam's first free trade agreement with an Arab country.

This is also the free trade agreement with the fastest negotiation time in Vietnam, demonstrating the high determination of the leaders as well as ministries and branches of the two countries to create a breakthrough in economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, opening up a major and potential path.‎historical significance for Vietnam to penetrate deeper into the Middle East market.

With comprehensive negotiation contents, the CEPA Agreement promises to bring balanced benefits to both countries and is in line with the desire to enhance cooperation in many fields between Vietnam and the UAE.

In the spirit of "innovation in thinking, creativity in strategy, consensus in coordination, and determination in implementation to concretize and realize the results of high-level visits between the two countries and signed cooperation agreements", the two leaders discussed and agreed on five key cooperation focuses in the coming time.

One is, increase delegation exchanges at all levels, create more political trust; establish joint working groups to substantively implement the Comprehensive Partnership.

Two is, effectively implement the CEPA Agreement to create a breakthrough for trade exchange, further open the market towards the goal of bringing bilateral trade turnover to over 10 billion USD in the coming time; encourage and create conditions for businesses of the two countries to cooperate in investment and business.

Three is, strengthening cooperation in the fields of digital transformation, green transformation, and innovation. Vietnam encourages UAE businesses to invest more in areas that Vietnam is interested in and the UAE has strengths in, such as green transformation infrastructure, digital transformation, digital finance, and especially artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things.

Four is, promoting cooperation in people-to-people exchange, culture and tourism. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that he will direct the opening of a direct flight route from Vietnam to the UAE to create more favorable conditions for people of the two countries to increase visits and mutual understanding.

Five is, strengthen cooperation and support each other in multilateral forums in the context that both countries share many common views on regional and international issues, are peace-loving peoples, and wish to cooperate for peace, stability and development in the two regions and in the world.

Emphasizing the effective implementation of the contents agreed by both sides, the two leaders agreed to assign relevant ministries and branches to actively coordinate to concretize the proposals.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh invited UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to visit Vietnam in the near future. The UAE Vice President and Prime Minister thanked him and happily accepted the invitation.

On this occasion, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of six cooperation documents between the two sides, including: Memorandum of Understanding on Investment, Innovation and Financial Center, Memorandum of Understanding on Experience Exchange in Government Modernization and Development, Memorandum of Understanding on Higher Education and Scientific Research Cooperation, Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the State Bank of Vietnam and the Central Bank of the UAE, Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the General Department of Customs and Abu Dhabi Port, Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Vietnam Federation of Industry and Commerce (VCCI) and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry./.