Vietnam and Malaysia should bolster their cooperation in various fields, including power development, oil exploration and exploitation, and seafood processing, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said here Saturday when meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Besides eyeing stronger Malaysian investment in energy and agriculture in Vietnam, Dung told Badawi, who came to Vietnam to attend a two-day APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, that he wanted to see closer bilateral cooperation on labor and education, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Dung also recommended that the two governments quickly establish a joint committee at the ministerial level to implement protocols already signed between the two countries.

Malaysia and Vietnam could strengthen cooperation in exploring and exploiting oil and gas and developing energy sources, Badawi said, adding that his country would encourage financially strong companies to invest more in Vietnam.

Malaysia's investment in Vietnam has so far been registered at around 2 billion U.S. dollars. In 2005, Vietnam earned 949.3 million dollars from exporting goods, mainly crude oil, rice, seafood and garment to Malaysia, and spent nearly 1.3 billion dollars on importing items, mostly wood, petroleum products and computers from that country, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.

While meeting with Dung on the sidelines of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting starting on Saturday, Badawi also stressed the importance of Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The fact that Vietnam has attained WTO membership and will run for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council in the 2008-2009 term is a joy for all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as it will help improve the regional grouping's status in the international arena, the Malaysian prime minister stated.

Source: Xinhua