UAE Embassy, VAFIE to jointly strengthen Vietnam-UAE business connections

The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Hanoi and the Vietnam's Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE) on Wednesday agreed to jointly deploy specific measures to lift trade and investment ties between the two countries.

The two sides agreed on the cooperation during a working session between VAFIE chairman Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan and Ambassador of the UAE to Vietnam Dr. Bader Almatrooshi.

The meeting focused on discussing concrete solutions to strengthen economic cooperation, especially the connection between the two countries' business communities.

Ambassador Almatrooshi said he highly appreciates VAFIE’s initiatives in fostering bilateral trade and investment relations.

He noted that bilateral trade has developed rapidly in recent years, but the UAE's investment in Vietnam and Vietnam's investment in the UAE remain limited, failing to reach their potential.

In 2024, two-way trade was estimated to exceed $6.02 billion, up 28.33% from 2023, with Vietnam's export to the UAE strongly rising.

However, the two-way trade figure was still far from the $20 billion target set in the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed in October 2024.

During the meeting, VAFIE chairman Dr. Tuan proposed several cooperation initiatives to strengthen investment and trade ties. These include facilitating connections between UAE investors-investment funds and Vietnamese companies.

He also recommended organizing more business delegations from Vietnam to visit the UAE to explore the market and investment opportunities.

"VAFIE will actively support UAE investors in Vietnam," Dr. Tuan said, adding that VAFIE’s publications, Theinvestor.vn and Nhadautu.vn, would also help to promote the brands, images, and potential of UAE companies as well as collaboration opportunities between the two business communities.

As part of the meeting, Deputy Head of Mission Eisa Alhammadi and Dr. Tuan discussed the possibility of sending Vietnamese workers to the UAE.

Both parties agreed to facilitate direct discussions between VAFIE member companies, which are engaged in labor export and training, and Deputy Head of Mission Eisa Alhammadi at the earliest time to develop specific programs and solutions.