Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with Kuwait’s Minister of Oil Tariq Suleiman Al-Roumi in Kuwait City, on November 18 as part of his on-going official visit to the Gulf nation.

Pham proposed that the two countries promote the signing of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as well as a FTA between Viet Nam and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

He called on the Kuwaiti Ministry of Oil to continue facilitating cooperation between both sides' oil and gas companies, including the establishment of a task force to resolve outstanding issues in the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project.

He called on the two sides to explore opportunities for new cooperation areas and projects, such as exploration, production, crude supply, product trading, maintenance, operations, technical services, and human resource training.

The guest urged Kuwait to expand its investment in the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project and invest in refinery projects to help Viet Nam ensure energy security in its new development period.

In particular, he suggested building an energy, fuel, and petroleum distribution hub in Viet Nam to serve the wider Southeast Asia region.

Al-Roumi, for his part, stated that he will work with Vietnamese ministries and agencies to concretize an action program to implement the Viet Nam–Kuwait Strategic Partnership framework effectively.

The minister said that he will propose orientations and create new momentum for cooperation and investment. He expressed his confidence that under the new Strategic Partnership framework, Viet Nam–Kuwait economic, trade, and investment relations, especially in energy sector, will see strong development in the near future./.