By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter
Both Qatar and Vietnam have a booming infrastructure and construction industry and companies in the two countries should work towards having joint ventures in this area, Vietnam’s Ambassador to Qatar Nguyen Hoang has stressed.
“In recent years, the two countries have exchanged a number of high-level visits, including a visit to Qatar by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the visit to Vietnam by HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani in January 2012. Besides, relations between Vietnam and Qatar witnessed positive development in 2014, with the official visit to Qatar by Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, in December 2014,” he said.
The envoy said Qatari investors have a good opportunity to invest in agriculture in Vietnam. They could provide local farmers with sophisticated technology and machinery as well as the necessary financing, in addition to marketing various Vietnamese agriculture products in the GCC and Middle East.
“However, there are still some legal issues to be resolved so that investors from the two countries can do good business in this field, mainly pertaining to the legal mechanism of renting farms and agricultural land to foreign investors. I believe this will be resolved in good time for the good of the two parties,” the ambassador said.
According to him, the number of Vietnamese expatriates was growing slowly but steadily in Qatar. While a considerable number of Vietnamese workers are willing to work in Qatar, there are some difficulties involved in the process of recruitment.
“Some Vietnamese companies are in negotiations to establish construction firms in Qatar as joint ventures with some of the companies operating in the country. We hope this will create more opportunities for the Vietnamese (people) to come and work here,” he pointed out.
He felt that the relation between the two countries would see an even more positive outcome in the coming years. “I have extended an invitation to Qatar Tourism Authority to encourage Qatari tourists to visit Vietnam. Their numbers there are still very limited,” he added, admitting that more should be done to promote the tourism potential of Vietnam in Qatar and the Middle East.
In 2014, Vietnam and Qatar held the first meeting of the Qatari-Vietnamese joint committee for economic, trade and technical co-operation. At the meeting, the two countries discussed and agreed on expanding bilateral relations in all fields: political, diplomatic, trade, investment, finance, banking and others.
Bilateral trade turnover reached $264mn in 2013, an increase of $25mn compared to the previous year, with Vietnam’s exports to Qatar totalling around $20mn.
Meanwhile, Qatar is undertaking an investment in the oil and gas sector in Vietnam’s Long Son Petrochemical Complex, with a stake of 25% (around $1.2bn). This major project provides hundreds of jobs for Vietnamese workers.
Marking the new Lunar Year on Friday with a community gathering, the ambassador urged all Vietnamese expatriates in Qatar to work hard and respect the laws and traditions of the host country, in a way that would further strengthen the good relations between Vietnam and Qatar.
In 2014, Vietnam’s GDP achieved an estimated growth of 5.98 percent. It was higher than 2013’s rate of 5.42%. More foreign companies are coming to set up manufacturing units in Vietnam. For instance, Samsung is building a $2bn plant in Vietnam that may make 120mn handsets a year in the near future.
Members of the Vietnamese community in Qatar. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam
