Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh holds talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the sideline of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia. (photo: VOV)

This will be Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s first visit to Vietnam since he took office last December.

Well-developed strategic partnership

Since they were established on March 30^th, 1973, Vietnam-Malaysia diplomatic relations have steadily developed, an important milestone being the signing of a Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership Framework in 2015.

The two sides maintain regular delegation exchanges and high-level contacts across all channels of the Party, State, government, National Assembly, as well as people-to-people exchanges. A highlight was the visit to Vietnam in last March by Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The two countries have also established other bilateral cooperation mechanisms including the 6th Meeting of the Vietnam-Malaysia Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation Committee in 2021 co-chaired by their Foreign Ministers, and the 2nd Senior Officials' Strategic Dialogue, co-chaired by the Assistant Foreign Ministers in 2021.

Vietnamese Chargé d’affairs in Malaysia Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh said: "The establishment of a Strategic Partnership in 2015 marked an important milestone in bilateral ties. Vietnam is currently Malaysia's only strategic partner in ASEAN. The establishment of a strategic partnership shows the extensive development of bilateral relations and high political trust and opens a new page for extensive and comprehensive cooperation in various fields.”

Vietnam is one of Malaysia's closest partners. Increasing bilateral trade is an important achievement. Malaysia is currently Vietnam's second largest trading partner in ASEAN, with two-way turnover last year reaching nearly 15 billion USD, up 18% from the previous year. Malaysia is among Vietnam’s 10 largest investors with 700 projects worth 13 billion USD. Vietnam has 24 investment projects in Malaysia, with a total registered capital of 860 million USD, ranking 9th of 80 countries and territories in which Vietnam is investing. These results show that the two countries’ trade cooperation is on the right track.

Vietnam and Malaysia have actively implemented a memorandum of understanding on recruitment, employment, and labor repatriation signed last March.

The two countries’ security sectors have regularly exchanged delegations at all levels, notably Minister of Public Security To Lam’s visit to Malaysia in 2020. The two sides agreed to enhance training and share information on the prevention and control of terrorism, cybercrime, and transnational crimes.

Bilateral cooperation prospects

During Prime Minister Ibrahim’s visit to Vietnam, the leaders of the two countries will discuss cooperation in politics, security and defense, economy, trade, investment, labor, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, and seek measures to expand cooperation to other fields, such as the Halal food industry, digital transformation, the digital economy, and high-tech agriculture to create new impetus for the Action Program to implement the Vietnam-Malaysia Strategic Partnership in the 2021-2025 period.

The leaders will also discuss regional and global issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue and marine economic cooperation, and set orientations to strengthen coordination at regional and global forums, intra-regional solidarity, and ASEAN's central role.

At a press conference on the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations in March, Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said Malaysia is satisfied with its excellent relationship with Vietnam. Malaysia is committed to doing its best to strengthen the strategic partnership for socio-economic development in both countries.

The Malaysian Prime Minister’s official visit to Vietnam will realize the two countries’ commitments and ensure the practicality and effectiveness of their bilateral relationship.