Hanoi (VNA) – President Nguyen Xuan Phucreceived in Hanoi on August 10 Ambassador of Kuwait Yousef Ashour Al-sabbaghand Ambassador of Israel Yaron Mayer, who came to present their credentials.

At his meeting with Ambassador Al-sabbagh, President Phucaffirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to enhance thetraditional friendship with Kuwait, one of the leading economic partners ofVietnam in the Middle East.

Mentioning trade between the two countries, whichwas valued at about 4.8 billion USD last year, up 48% year-on-year, thePresident suggested Kuwait facilitate the penetration of Vietnamese goods,especially agricultural products, seafood, garments-textiles, wood products andcomponents, into Kuwait and other Gulf countries.

He also called on the Kuwait side to coordinate withVietnamese partners and enterprises in trade promotion, and to seek suitablesolutions for the Nghi Son Oil Refinery.

Lauding the Kuwait Fund for Arab EconomicDevelopment that has provided preferential loans for mountainous anddisadvantaged provinces of Vietnam over the past nearly four decades, theleader urged the fund to speed up the preparation and signing of loanagreements for projects.

He also suggested Kuwait pay attention to protectinglegitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese labourers, saying the two sidesshould sign an agreement on labour cooperation to create a legal corridor forthe bilateral collaboration in this regard soon.

In reply, Al-sabbagh emphasised that Kuwait backs Vietnamat international forums and organisations, saying Kuwait supported theSoutheast Asian nation’s non-permanent membership at the UN Security Councilfor 2020-2021, granted scholarships to Vietnamese students, assisted Vietnam insocio-economic development, especially rural and disadvantaged areas, andcreated conditions for Vietnamese citizens to return home safely amid theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The ambassador pledged to make every effort tostrengthen the bilateral ties in different spheres.

Meeting with Ambassador Mayer, the President affirmedthe importance Vietnam attaches to cooperation with Israel, particularly ineconomy, science-technology, innovative startup, labour and tourism, addingthat many Vietnamese research and startup delegations visited Israel to learnfrom the country’s experience.

He suggested Vietnam and Israel soon resume theexchange of delegations and cooperation mechanisms, especially the thirdmeeting of the joint-governmental committee.

The two countries should intensify their coordinationand mutual support at international forums and organisations, and organise manypractical activities marking the 30th anniversary of the bilateraldiplomatic ties (1993-2023), he said.

Trade between Vietnam and Israel reached 2 billionUSD in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 20%, the leader said, urging the ambassadorto make active contributions in order to raise the bilateral trade revenue to10 billion USD.

Phuc also suggested the two countries step up trade,investment and tourism promotion activities in-person as the pandemic has been initiallybrought under control, while accelerating the negotiations and signing of a bilateralfree trade agreement and another on labour cooperation.

Collaboration in other fields likescience-technology, personnel training and national defence should also beenhanced, he continued.

For his part, the ambassador noted that educationwould be an effective bridge between people of the two countries as thousandsof Vietnamese students are studying in Israel.

He said stronger tourism cooperation will facilitatethe traveling of Israel people to Vietnam and vice versa.

The diplomat promised to try his best to fostercooperation between Vietnam and Israel./.