Vietnam, UAE hold first political consultation

Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will work together to bring their two-way trade to 5.5-6 billion USD by 2015. This was pledged at the two countries’ first political consultation held during Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phuong Nga’s May 14-15 visit to the UAE. Nga and Khaled Ghanem Al Ghaith, Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs of the UAE agreed to conduct visits at all levels regularly and help their businesses establish linkups. They reached a consensus on stepping up bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, labour, agriculture, culture and tourism, and continuing collaboration and mutual support at international forums. The officials talked about regional and international issues of mutual concern. Nga informed the UAE side about the latest developments in the East Sea related to China’s illegal placement of its rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. The UAE side concurred with Vietnam’s viewpoint of addressing the disputes by peaceful measures in line with international law. Both sides agreed to maintain an annual political consultation. During her visit, Nga was received by the UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri. At the meetings, the UAE officials affirmed their country have valued the promotion of its all-faceted cooperation with Vietnam.-VNA