Welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held at King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh. (Photo: VNA)

The first ASEAN - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit which was held in Saudi Arabia from October 18-20 is a milestone marking an important development in ASEAN-GCC relations. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the Summit and visit Saudi Arabia.

Regarding the ASEAN-GCC Summit, Ambassador Vu Ho, Acting Head of SOM ASEAN Vietnam, commented that the relationship between Southeast Asia and the Gulf region has existed for a long time, connected by "silk threads" created from the intersection of the two regions. This ASEAN - GCC Summit is the "loom" that weaves those "silk threads" together into a beautiful fabric.

As a member of ASEAN, Vienam contributes to making this "loom" stronger and the "silk fabric" more colorful, creating harmony and sustainability for the ASEAN-GCC relationship, he said.

Meeting the needs from both sides

It is said that the ASEAN - GCC relationship is long-standing because the "cohesion of fate" between these two lands began in 1990 when the Foreign Minister of Oman, in capacity of Chairman of the Council of GCC Ministers, expressed the GCC's desire to establish official relations with ASEAN. That same year, ASEAN and GCC Foreign Ministers met for the first time on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The two Secretariats of ASEAN and GCC officially established relations in 2009.

For decades, the two sides have maintained contact and meetings mainly through ASEAN - GCC Foreign Ministers' meetings on the occasion of the United Nations Congress and official ASEAN - GCC Foreign Ministers' Meetings which have been held in a member country of the GCC or ASEAN. Up to date, the two sides have organized three official ASEAN - GCC Foreign Ministers' Meetings in 2009 (in Manama, Bahrain), 2010 (in Singapore) and 2013 (in Manama, Bahrain).

GCC countries basically implement a moderate foreign policy, promote the Look East policy, and pay attention to cooperation with Southeast Asia. Currently, GCC members have appointed Ambassadors to ASEAN and joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). ASEAN has established ASEAN Committees in the capitals of all GCC member countries.

This first Summit between ASEAN and GCC is important, meeting the needs of both sides. According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung, the ASEAN - GCC Summit takes place in the context of the role of ASEAN and GCC being increasingly affirmed in the region and the world. Furthermore, ASEAN and GCC have much potential to develop relations in many fields, especially in economics and labor.

Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung analyzed that countries in the GCC have high rates of economic growth, social changes, positive development, and young populations. The total population of the GCC region has nearly doubled in 20 years, from 26.2 million in 1995 to 56.4 million in 2021, largely due to a sharp increase in the number of migrant workers entering the region. According to 2021 statistics, the total population of ASEAN countries is estimated at 666, 19 million people, nearly 12 times the population of GCC countries. ASEAN has abundant human resources, contributing significantly to the workforce in GCC countries, and is also a very large market for export products from GCC countries.

With large revenues from oil and gas, GCC countries own the world's leading investment funds such as the UAE Investment Authority (estimated assets of 850 billion USD), PIF (Saudi Arabia, estimated assets of 603 million USD), QIA (Qatar, estimated assets of 170 billion USD) and is the target of many countries in attracting investment capital. This could be an opportunity for ASEAN countries to attract investment capital.

Therefore, Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung said that the documents to be signed within this high-level framework will create more basis and momentum to promote relations between the two blocs, especially in the fields of cooperation still has much potential, such as economics, trade, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

At the Summit, ASEAN and GCC leaders discuss important directions, creating new momentum to further develop ASEAN-GCC relations in the coming time, and spend time discussing regional and international issues of concerns. Joint Statement ASEAN-GCC Riyadh Summit was adopted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 20 October 2023

Strong and responsible commitment of Vietnam

Vietnam contributes to making the ASEAN-GCC "fabric" more colorful. As a core member of ASEAN, Vietnam always promotes the spirit of proactivity, positivity and responsibility in strengthening relations between the two regions.

Enduring "threads" were created by Vietnam in its efforts to promote ASEAN - GCC relations in general and relations between Vietnam and each GCC member in particular. In 2018, Vietnam took on the role of Coordinator of ASEAN - GCC relations, promoting the organization and successfully co-chairing the ASEAN - GCC Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the occasion of the 73rd UN General Assembly. At this Meeting, the two parties affirmed their commitment to expanding and deepening cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as trade, investment, energy and food security, anti-terrorism, connectivity, tourism, and promoting and protecting the rights of migrant workers, people-to-people exchanges...

In particular, all six GCC member countries are priority cooperation partners of Vietnam in the Middle East - Africa with relationships spanning many fields including politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, ODA, labor, etc. Vietnam and four GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE) have opened Embassies in each other's countries.

Trade turnover between Vietnam and regional countries reached 12.5 billion USD. Total direct investment (FDI) of GCC countries into Vietnam currently reaches about 1 billion USD. There are currently about 11,000 Vietnamese workers working in GCC countries. Currently in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia has seven investment projects, Kuwait has two investment projects with about more than 3 billion USD. UAE investors are also very interested and investing in Vietnam with a total registered capital of about 74 million USD.

Riyadh city leaders welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. (Photo: VNA)

Improving the effectiveness of Vietnam-Saudi Arabia cooperation

According to Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung, this trip of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to Saudi Arabia is the highest-level delegation exchange activity of Vietnam and Saudi Arabia since the visit of former President Nguyen Minh Triet (April 2010). It takes place as the two countries prepare to celebrate the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties in 2024.

In that context, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit contributes to strengthening political trust, deepening cooperation, and raising the level of bilateral relations into substance and effectiveness in all political aspects. diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, labor, especially promoting specific cooperation in the fields of trade and investment to attract investment in the fields of green growth, infrastructure, energy, industry, high technology, etc, in Vietnam, creating conditions for Vietnamese agricultural products to penetrate the Saudi Arabian market, promoting Saudi Arabia to increase its reception of highly skilled workers from Vietnam.

Within the framework of the visit, a number of Memoranda of Understanding were signed, contributing to strengthening bilateral cooperation in specific fields.

The two countries have many things in common, such as both having a growing role in the region, open foreign policy and strengthening friendly relations with other countries, policies and socio-economic development plans that take people and businesses as the service subjects. Saudi Arabia is Vietnam's leading economic partner in the Middle East region. In the first seven months of 2023, Vietnam exported over 608.2 million USD to Saudi Arabia, an increase of more than 60% over the same period in 2022, and imported over 956.5 million USD, a decrease of 11.4%. The value of goods trade deficit has decreased from more than 699 million USD to more than 348 million USD, showing that Vietnamese products are increasingly asserting their foothold in this market.

Thus, from both multilateral and bilateral perspectives, this trip of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the Gulf region is of great significance, showing Vietnam with a new mindset of independence, solidarity, development; together with other ASEAN member countries affirming the value and central role of ASEAN while strengthening political trust and improving the effectiveness of Vietnam's cooperation with Saudi Arabia.