President of the Viet Nam – Malaysia Friendship Association Do Huu Hao. (Photo: TV)
Addressing the event, VMFA President Do Huu Hao and Malaysian Ambassador to Viet Nam, Zamruni Khalid reviewed the Viet Nam-Malaysia friendship and cooperation over the past 45 years, stressing that Viet Nam and Malaysia share a lot of similarities in terms of culture and customs, with their people having soon fostered exchanges and mutual learning.
The friendship and cooperation between the two nations have recorded developments across all fields, including politics, economy, trade, security, national defence, culture, education, and labour, he said.
With regard to politics, Viet Nam and Malaysia have maintained regular exchange of visits at all levels, he said, mentioning trips to Malaysia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Do Muoi (1994), President Tran Duc Luong (1998), Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (1998), Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung (2007 and 2015). Meanwhile, Malaysian top leaders – King Tuanku Jaafar, King Mizan Zainal Abidin and PM Najib Razak – paid visits to Viet Nam in 1995, 2009 and 2014, respectively. The two nations lifted their ties to Strategic Partnership in August, 2015, he added.
Substantial progress has been seen in trade and investment in the last four decades. Malaysia is now Viet Nam’s 8th largest trade partner and ranks 7th out of 125 foreign country investors in Viet Nam. The two-way trade exceeded USD 10 billion in 2017 and is expected to hit USD 15 billion by 2020 while cooperation in tourism, education and science-technology are flourishing.
Hao expressed his belief that based on the past achievements and the joint efforts exerted by the two Governments and peoples, the Viet Nam-Malaysia strategic partnership would continue to grow and bring about practical outcomes, meeting the benefits of the two countries for peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity in the region and around the world.
On the occasion, he introduced the activities of the VMFA in strengthening exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries’ people.
Malaysian Ambassador to Viet Nam, Zamruni Khalid speaks at the celebration. (Photo: TV)
Ambassador Maylaysia Zamruni Khalid added that in the Action Plan realizing the strategic partnership agreement between Malaysia and Viet Nam, the two countries attach great importance to promotion of cultural, artistic and people exchanges.
Zamruni Khalid announces that to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Malaysia-Viet Nam diplomatic relations, Malaysian Embassy has planned a number of programs to promote people-to-people relations between Malaysia and Viet Nam including the Malaysian Culture Week, the Malaysian Food Festival, the cultural exchange program between the two countries' TV stations and the Education Fair. He hoped that the Viet Nam-Malaysia Friendship Association and the Viet Nam union of Friendship organizations would to collaborate with Malaysian Embassy to organize the activities, contributing to the strengthening of the friendship and cooperation between Viet Nam and Malaysia.
Q.Hoa
