The first meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee for bilateral cooperation between Việt Nam and the United Arab Emirates is co-chaired by Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vũ Huy Hoàng and UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri, Hà Nội, November 25. 2010.

The two sides agreed on ways to boost the multifaceted ties, especially in diplomacy, trade, industry, agriculture, petroleum and energy.

Regarding petroleum field, both sides were unanimous in creating favorable conditions for the State-owned Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and its Arab partners to strengthen linkages in exploration, exploitation, and processing activities.

The UAE side would consider the possibility to provide stable and long-term petroleum products for Vietnamese partners.

In terms of trade exchanges, both sides agreed to spur bilateral trade commensurate with respective potentials.

Việt Nam is willing to supply food products to the UAE and invites UAE businesses to penetrate in such areas as energy, infrastructure construction, tourism, as well as real estate.

UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri applauded Việt Nam’s initiative in organizing such event.

For his part, Minister of Industry and Trade Vũ Huy Hoàng took the occasion to send a letter which suggests the UAE to recognize Việt Nam as a market economy.

The UAE is the second largest market of Việt Nam in the Middle East. Last year, the bilateral trade value stood at US $498 million, in which Việt Nam exported US $359 million and imported US $139 million. In 2010, Việt Nam and the UAE are supposed to acquire a US $630 million trade turnover./.