President Tran Dai Quang
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Accompanying the State leader are Chairman of the Presidential Office Dao Viet Trung, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Education and Training Tran Xuan Nha, Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh, among others.
Vietnam and Brunei established diplomatic ties on February 29, 1992. Since then, the two countries regularly exchanged visits and high-ranking meetings. Bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation has made big strides with two-way trade jumping from 24.2 million USD in 2010 to 73.7 million USD in 2015. The figure hit 17 million USD as of June 2016.
Vietnam mainly exports seafood and rice to Brunei while importing chemicals from the country. As of June 2016, Brunei has run 205 projects valued at more than 2.18 billion USD in Vietnam, ranking 18th out of 116 countries and territories investing in the country and fourth among other ASEAN investors, behind Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Vietnam has one project worth 650,000 USD in Brunei, specialising in metals and chemicals. The two countries also hold a lot of potential for cooperation in fisheries, real estate and education-training.
Of note, they inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on educational cooperation in April 2014. Apart from scholarships granted to Vietnamese students to study in Brunei, the country has also offered oil and English scholarships to Vietnam.
The two sides have also signed a range of agreements and MoUs on affiliation in tourism, aviation and trade. During the trip, representatives of the two countries’ new leaderships will seek measures to enhance bilateral cooperation and help each other reach their set targets in the time ahead.
Brunei has prioritised its investments in manufacturing, processing and real estate in Vietnam, he said, suggesting Vietnam seek ways to lure more Singaporean investments in other fields while enhancing the bilateral collaboration in politics, security, national defence, culture and sports.
Brunei has capital and experience in economic development and nation-building while Vietnam boasts an abundant labour force and rich natural resources, he further explained. Joining hands with each other, the two countries aim to access not only the respective markets but the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN’s six partner countries and members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreements at large.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and Brunei rose three-fold from US$24.2 million in 2010 to US$73.7 million in 2015. Vietnam mostly exports seafood and rice to Brunei and imports chemicals. As of June, Brunei invested in 205 projects worth over US$2.18 billion, ranking 18 th out of 116 countries and territories investing in Vietnam and the fourth in ASEAN, behind Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
