Nguyen Hoang (second left), Vietnamese Ambassador to Qatar, with people who received award at Vietnam National Day celebrations at Vietnam Embassy yesterday. (Below) Nguyen Hoang speaks during the celebrations. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
The Vietnam Embassy yesterday celebrated the country’s 72nd National Day on a high note with positive outlook for the future of bilateral ties between Qatar and Vietnam.
Vietnam is keen on deepening its relations with Qatar in various fields such as tourism, labour, trade and investment, said Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Hoang.
“With Vietnam’s world class resorts and attractions and Qatar Airways ramping up flight frequencies to Vietnam from next year, tourism is one of the areas which we are looking forward to strengthen and develop,” said the envoy.
He added: “Investment in real estate in Vietnam like luxury hotels and resorts is one of new areas for Qatari investors to explore as real estate markets in Vietnam saw growth in the past few years thanks to the continuous inflow of foreign direct investment, strengthening domestic business cycle and a supportive policy environment.”
An investment plan for the construction of a $311.9m seaport and industrial park complex in Quang Yen province of Quang Ninh has been approved, one of the biggest investors of which is Construction Development Company (CDC) with more than 70 percent capital.
“This cooperation will open for Vietnam and Qatar much more opportunities in construction and investment relations in the upcoming time,” he said.
With regard to trade, he said Vietnam is looking to explore new agricultural products to export to Qatar such as coffee, pepper and fruits.
Vietnam appreciates Qatar’s decision to officially recognise Vietnam’s market economy status, he stressed.
“This vividly reflects the multi-faceted cooperation and mutual trust between the two countries. This recognition is a key contributor to deepening the bilateral relations between Vietnam and Qatar, particularly the potential economic and trade ties,” he said.
“The relationship between the two countries has made huge strides in different fields including politics, economics, investment, culture and sports during the past years,” he said.
He noted that there had been regular exchange of visits between the two countries such as the visit to Qatar of Vietnam’s Minister of Health during the World Innovation Summit of Health in Qatar and visit of the leaders of Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Qatar to Vietnam for the second Government Joint Commission on Economic, Commercial and Technical Cooperation between Vietnam and Qatar.
More exchange visits are expected as the two countries celebrate the silver jubilee of bilateral relations next year, he said, adding the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam had sent an official invitation to their Qatari counterparts to visit Vietnam.
As part of the silver jubilee celebrations, the Embassy will organise a Vietnamese Food and Culture Festival with InterContinental Doha The City, he added.
Yesterday’s occasion was marked by a community gathering during which the envoy recalled Vietnam’s hard struggle for national independence and the country’s achievements during the process of regional and international integration.
He urged the Vietnamese community to further contribute to national construction and development.
There are around 1,400 Vietnamese citizens in Qatar working in various fields such as research and engineering, but mostly in construction and other services.
“In recent years, Vietnam and Qatar have been working to promote cooperation in many fields, especially labour cooperation aimed at increasing the number of Vietnamese in Qatar. Following this development, I believe that the Vietnamese population in Qatar will increase in the future,” he said.
The event also saw the distribution of prizes to winners of the Vietnamese community sports competition which was followed by community dinner and karaoke contest.
