Press Release: Special Dialogue with Prime Minister of Vietnam
ASEAN Business Club 2015
Special Dialogue with Prime Minister of Vietnam
PRESS RELEASE
(8th August 2015)
ASEAN Business Club: Malaysia and ASEAN stand to benefit from robust trade relations with Vietnam
KUALA LUMPUR, August 8 – The ASEAN Business Club (ABC) hosted a special dialogue with H.E. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam today in Putrajaya, Malaysia in conjunction with his official two-day visit to Malaysia. Aimed at strengthening trade relations between Vietnam and Malaysia, the exclusive dialogue was held in partnership with the CIMB Group, Embassy of the S.R. of Vietnam in Malaysia, Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam, Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia and MATRADE.
“We are honoured to play host to the visiting Prime Minister of Vietnam and his accompanying delegation. Vietnam was the second most attractive investment destination in Asia-Pacific in 2014. With the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and the negotiation of the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement), Vietnam and ASEAN are well set to deepen economic relations”, said Dr. Munir.
Vietnam hopes the official visit of our Prime Minister H.E. Nguyen Tan Dung will push the bilateral relations between Malaysia and Vietnam to new heights. “In terms of Investment, Malaysia ranked 8th among the 103 countries and territories invested in Vietnam with approximately 500 projects with total registered capital of 11 billion US dollars. We highly appreciate the significant contribution of the Malaysian investors to the socio-economic development of the country, in promoting the economic reform, transferring the professional management skills and labour training as well,” said H.E. Bui Quang Vinh, Minister Of Planning and Investment Of The Socialist Republic Of Vietnam.
His counterpart, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, urged the private sector in Malaysia and Vietnam to take full advantage of government facilitation efforts in trade and investment. “Among the efforts to further our commitment is the opening of a MITI Office in Hanoi to augment the efforts of the existing MATRADE office there. I believe that with the support of the private sector, the trade volume between our two nations can be easily raised to US$20 billion in the next few years. This target is well within reach, especially with the formal establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by the end of this year”, he said.
Over 100 participants from both countries including 15 cabinet ministers from Vietnam held a closed-door discussion focused on investment incentives and regulations of 6 strategic sectors: (1) Finance & Banking, (2) Oil & Gas, (3) Infrastructure – Real Estate – Industry Zone, (4) Manufacturing – Processing, and (5) Trading -Import, Export and (6) Education.
The main sponsor of today’s event was CIMB Group who just yesterday received an Approval in Principle to offer full banking services in Vietnam. “Today’s series of events and the various discussions that we have had are a testament of our belief that Vietnam will become a major source of growth within ASEAN. CIMB recognizes the significance of the ASEAN story and has fully embedded ourselves in and across ASEAN. We are confident we can play a role in facilitating further development of the Vietnam economy, in particular, the banking sector,” said Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Aziz, Group Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Group.
Among leading corporations and institutions that participated at the dialogue were AirAsia, Khazanah Nasional, Ranhill, Top Glove, ASLI, Tan Chong Motor, and Taylor’s University.