VNBusinessNews – Investors from the United Arab Emirates are very keen on Vietnam due to its attractive investment environment, rapid economic development, political and social stability. Vietnamese ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Quang Khai granted an exclusive interview to VOV on friendship and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Two-way trade turnover in 2008 reached nearly US$500 million and friendship between the two countries has been strengthened and promoted.

It is expected that PM Nguyen Tan Dung will pay an official visit to the UAE in mid-February. On the occasion, Ngoc Thach, a reporter from Radio the Voice of Viet Nam in the Middle-East region interviewed the Vietnamese ambassador to the UAE, Nguyen Quang Khai on friendship and economic cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE.

Could you brief us on the relationship between Viet Nam and the UAE?

Diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the UAE were established since 1993. But in fact, friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the UAE had already been established for a long time. The government and people of the UAE had always expressed their sympathy and support for Vietnam’s struggle for national independence and defense of its sovereignty.

UAE Prime Minister’s visit to Vietnam and the opening of the UAE embassy in Hanoi in November reflected the UAE government and people’s wish to strengthen friendship and cooperation with Vietnam.

Viet Nam and the UAE have developed their political relationship well, which has laid a firm foundation for economic cooperation. Currently, both sides are striving to promote economic relations in many fields to match the potential of both countries.

In what fields can Vietnam attract investment from the UAE?

Investors from the UAE are now very keen on investment projects on real estate and infrastructure. To attract UAE investors, there should be more open and active policies.

“Economic diplomacy” is one of the goals of the 26th diplomatic conference. What does the Vietnamese embassy to the UAE do to fulfill these goals?

Mr Khai: The 26th diplomatic conference held in Hanoi recently considered economic diplomacy one of the major tasks in the coming time. In addition, the global financial crisis has negatively impacted on the economies of many countries including Vietnam. Therefore, economic diplomacy is all the more important for Vietnam.

To this end, the Vietnamese embassy to Abou Dhabi are actively monitoring the relationship between Vietnam and the UAE, and proposing potential fields for cooperation between the two countries in future. The embassy will continue to implement a number of investment cooperation projects the two nations have approved such as Ha Long Star and other joint ventures.

At first, the embassy focused on signing some important cooperative documents to create legal framework for multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries. Now it wants to speed up the establishment of a trade centre while encouraging Vietnamese enterprises to do businesses in the UAE. It has proposed sending more laborers to work on construction projects in the UAE. (VOV)