The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry jointly held a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on March 29 to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.
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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Nguyen Hong Thao addresses the event. |
The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry jointly held a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on March 29 to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.
Addressing the event, Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay expressed his pleasure at the continuously developing relations between Vietnam and Malaysia since they se up diplomatic ties on March 30, 1973.
Both countries are now ASEAN members and become each other’s important economic partner, he said.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Nguyen Hong Thao, over the past 40 years, together with the common development of the region and the world, the Vietnam-Malaysia relationship has seen new progress, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
Since the two countries signed the joint statement on the comprehensive cooperation framework in 21 st century, their relations have ceaselessly developed in various fields, including politics, economics, defence and security, he added.
Many visits have been paid by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders, especially the Malaysia visit of President Truong Tan Sang on September 2011 and the Malaysian King’s visit to Vietnam in March 2009.
Despite the global economic downturn, two-way trade between Vietnam and Malaysia hit over 9 billion USD in 2012, a rise of 25.27 percent compared to the previous year’s figure.
By 2012, Malaysia had more than 400 projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment of over 10 billion USD, ranking seventh among Vietnam ’s investors.
In addition, bilateral cooperation in education and training, culture, sports and tourism has also recorded encouraging results. Last year, 200,000 Vietnamese visited Malaysia while the number of Malaysian tourists to Vietnam was 300,000.
On the occasion, President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh extended their greetings to Malaysian King Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
They expressed their belief that the two countries’ relationship will further develop in the future for the interests of both peoples as well as for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.
(Source: VNA)
