Infographics: Malaysian PM’s upcoming visit targets to consolidate friendly ties with VN

PM Mahathir Mohamad and his spouse will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from August 27-28 at the invitation of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc. This will be the first overseas tour of PM Mahathir Mohamad since he took office in May, 2018. 

The two countries maintained exchanges of delegations. Cooperation in economics, trade, security, national defense, labor, and tourism was promoted. The two countries effectively cooperated at regional and international forums especially ASEAN and the UN. 

Viet Nam and Malaysia established diplomatic ties on March 30, 1973. Over the past 45 years, the cooperative relations and friendly ties have been unceasingly consolidated and developed in all aspects.

In trade field, the two countries were one of ten largest trade partners of each other. Especially, Malaysia was the eighth biggest trade partner of Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Viet Nam was the tenth largest trade partner of Malaysia. Two-way trade turnover hit US$ 11.5 billion in 2018, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.2%. Viet Nam chiefly exported crude oil, rice, coffee, seafood, plastics. 

As of April, 2019, Malaysia had 586 FDI projects in Viet Nam with a total registered capital of US$ 12.4 billion, ranking eight out of 130 countries and territories doing business in Viet Nam. 

In tourism area, about 1,000 Vietnamese students are studying in Malaysia. 

Last year, over 540,000 Malaysian s visited Viet Nam, representing a year-on-year growth of 12.4%, making Malaysia the seventh largest tourism market of Viet Nam./.

By Khanh Phuong