The “Meet Ambassadors from the Middle East and Africa 2019” will take place in Hanoi on September 9-10 to further connect and uphold the roles of diplomatic representative office of the Middle-East and African countries in Vietnam. Economic cooperation will be high on the agenda of the event.

Over the past years, the relations between Vietnam and the Middle-East and Africa have developed well in all spheres, from politics, diplomacy to economics and people to people exchange. Trade value between them increased from 5 billion USD in 2010 to 18 billion USD in 2017. Overseas investment among them have made remarkable achievements. Rich in natural resources, the Middle East-Africa is a large and potential market. Most of regional countries are developing economies and follow international integration and connection trend. Realising that Asia is the current world economic driving force, many countries, including those in the Middle East and Africa, are implementing the look East policy to strengthen cooperation with emerging economies in Asia, including Vietnam. In its external policy, Vietnam always attaches importance to strengthening multifaceted cooperation with Middle-east and African countries. However, cooperation between Vietnam and these countries is still modest.-VNA