THE HANOI TIMES — Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 17 visited Kuwait’s Al Zour Petrochemical Complex and met with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), aiming to boost energy cooperation and strategic investment between the two countries.

Al‑Zour is one of the Middle East’s most advanced refineries and ranks among the top 10 worldwide by capacity.

The $27 billion facility, covering 16 square kilometers, began construction in 2017 and entered commercial operation in late 2022. Its design capacity of 615,000 barrels per day accounts for around 43.5% of Kuwait’s domestic refining output.

Built with strategic long-term vision, the complex includes major processing units, a 5.6-million-barrel storage island and export berths. Beyond fuel and petrochemical production, Al‑Zour is a flagship of Kuwait Vision 2035, marking Kuwait’s shift toward value-added refining and environmental sustainability.

During his visit, Chinh expressed hope that Kuwait’s national oil company would share technology, management expertise and investment to support Vietnam’s refining, petrochemical, storage and distribution projects, especially its large-scale refineries.

Earlier, in talks with Kuwait’s leadership, both sides agreed to expand cooperation in the energy sector. Vietnam offered its expertise and workforce for new Kuwait projects and proposed joint investment in transshipment and fuel storage infrastructure.

The complex is highly flexible, designed to handle various types of Kuwaiti crude, including Kuwait Heavy Crude (KHC). It primarily supplies clean fuel oil to power plants, and expansion toward full conversion is being considered as a suitable option.

Earlier, in talks between Prime Minister Chinh and the Kuwaiti Prime Minister, both sides agreed to promote cooperation in the oil and gas sector, including expanding the Nghi Sơn Refinery project.

“Vietnam is ready to provide oil and gas services and high-quality personnel for projects in Kuwait, and to extend cooperation to new projects, particularly building fuel storage and transshipment facilities in Vietnam,” said Chinh.

During his visit, Prime Minister Chinh expressed hope that Kuwait’s national oil company would share technology, management expertise, and investment to support Vietnam’s refining, petrochemical, storage and distribution projects, particularly large-scale refineries.

Earlier, Prime Minister Chinh on November 16 visited the Arab Heritage Building, where he met with CEO Waleed Al Bahar and his colleagues from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).

The Prime Minister highly valued KFAED’s effective support in Vietnam, which provided concessional and non-repayable loans for 15 projects nationwide with a total value exceeding $183 million, contributing to essential infrastructure, social welfare, climate change mitigation and improved living conditions, especially in remote areas.

He said that during this visit, Vietnamese and Kuwaiti leaders agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership, laying a solid foundation for deeper, more substantive cooperation.

He asked KFAED to continue supporting Vietnam in areas such as social welfare, rural development, water supply, sanitation, healthcare, education, climate-adaptive infrastructure and disaster recovery.

The Prime Minister also outlined Vietnam’s two 100-year strategic goals, highlighting rapid yet sustainable development based on science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and emerging industries such as AI, semiconductors, IoT, big data, cloud computing, biotechnology and the maritime economy.

To enable growth, Chinh said Vietnam is pursuing three strategic breakthroughs in institutions, infrastructure and human resources, emphasizing open governance, seamless infrastructure and smart management.

Transformative projects include expressways, high-speed railways, urban rail, international standard-gauge rail, large ports and airports, energy projects including nuclear, wind and solar and the construction of an International Financial Center.

Prime Minister Chinh urged KFAED to invest directly and indirectly in Vietnam’s priority sectors and connect Kuwaiti businesses with opportunities in areas such as industry-logistics, renewable energy, green economy and the Halal ecosystem, while supporting Vietnamese companies in accessing opportunities in Kuwait and the Middle East.

He also proposed establishing a joint working group to harmonize procedures, simplify processes, develop cooperative projects, and implement them step by step, from small to large and simple to complex. Vietnam is ready to serve as a bridge for KFAED to ASEAN markets and neighboring countries.

Waleed Al Bahar, Acting Director General of KFAED and his colleagues praised Vietnam’s socio-economic development, investment environment and strategic direction, agreeing with Prime Minister Chinh on establishing a joint working group to promote cooperation and investment.

KFAED also proposed promoting public-private partnerships and new cooperative models. They expressed interest in projects in Vietnam’s priority sectors and requested continued government support to facilitate concrete cooperation between the parties.