Vietnam, Kuwait sign economic cooperation deal

Vietnam and Kuwait signed here Wednesday three agreements on economic cooperation in a bid to boost bilateral trade.

The deal includes an agreement on investment encouragement and protection, a protocol on the establishment of a joint committee on economic and scientific cooperation, and an agreement on cooperation between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his visiting Kuwaiti counterpart Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah attended the signing ceremony.

Before the ceremony, the two leaders held talks on boosting cooperative ties between the two countries, especially in economic and trade sectors.

The Kuwaiti prime minister's trip to Vietnam from Wednesday to Friday is the first by a high-ranking delegation from the oil-rich state since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1976.

Their two-way trade stood at 380 million U.S. dollars in 2006, a three-fold increase against 2002. Vietnam mainly exports garments, textiles, seafood, woodworks, electronics, and ceramics to Kuwait, and imports petroleum, fertilizers and fabric from the Persian Gulf country, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.

Source: Xinhua