Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad is on a three-day visit to Vietnam beginning August 26, at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived in Hanoi on August 26. Photo: VNA
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His previous official visit to Vietnam took place in 1998 in the capacity of Prime Minister when he attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference.
The visit this time is aimed to strengthen the existing strategic partnership between the two Southeast Asian nations which set up bilateral relations in 1973, said Vietnam’s Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh.
This is the fifth visit to Vietnam paid by Dr Mohathir, showing closed ties between the two countries, Quynh told the The Goi & Viet Nam newspaper.
In 2015, the relations were upgraded to strategic partnership with cooperation in all areas from politics to defense, security, trade and education, Quynh told Malaysia’s Bernama newswire.
The two prime ministers are expected to discuss bilateral relations and ways to promote new collaborations in various fields, among them being trade and industry, security, education and agriculture, in addition to regional and global issues, Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam Datuk Shariffah Norhana Syed Mustaffa was quoted by News Straits Times as saying.
On Wednesday [August 28], Dr Mahathir will visit the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, FPT Group, and is slated to address university students on the topic of ‘Malaysia’s Preparation Towards Industrial Revolution 4.0’.
He will also visit an exhibition of Vietnamese made cars namely VinFast models Lu SA 2.0, Lux SA (A) 2.0 and Fadil 1.5.
The Malaysian PM and his wife will stop by at the Noi Bai Industrial Zone, which is managed by Noi Bai Development Corporation Limited (NBD), a Malaysian-Vietnamese joint venture company comprising Malaysia’s Vista Spectrum Sdn Bhd and Vietnam’s Urban Infrastructure Development Investment Corporation (UDIC).
During Dr Mahathir’s visit to Vietnam in 1998, he launched the ground-breaking ceremony for Noi Bai Industrial Zone, according to the Malaysian ambassador.
