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President urges investment accord with Tunisia
The governments of Vietnam and Tunisia should speed up negotiations and sign an agreement on investment encouragement and protection as soon as possible to increase trade ties.
State President Nguyen Minh Triet put forward the proposal at a meeting with Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi in capital Tunis on April 13.
He said both countries should increase the exchange of visits at all levels and support each other in regional and international forums. He urged them to strengthen cooperation in oil and gas, tourism and fertilizer production - the areas where they can support each other - and create favourable conditions for their commodities to penetrate their regional markets.
Vietnam wants to expand cooperation with traditional friends such as Tunisia in all areas to fully tap their areas of strength, said Triet.
For his part, PM Ghannouchi said the Tunisian people are impressed by the Vietnamese people’s heroic and courageous spirit during their past struggle for national liberation, as well as their tremendous achievements in national construction at present.
He said Tunisia and Vietnam have many things in common, citing the fact that they give top priority to education, vocational training, human resource and economic development, and social equality, while embarking on a foreign policy to promote and strengthen world peace.
The PM said the upcoming session of the Vietnam-Tunisia Joint Committee will offer a big chance for the two countries to sign the agreement on investment to lay a firm legal foundation for increasing trade and investment ties.
He vowed to work hard to raise two-way trade to 100 million USD soon and establish joint business partnerships to penetrate third markets.
President Triet conveyed to PM Ghannouchi PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s invitation to visit Vietnam, as well as to attend the second Vietnam-Africa forum which is slated for August 2010.
During the visit, Triet visited Vietnamese officials, engineers and workers of the PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), who are putting the finishing touches on an oil exploitation project in the Eastern part of Tunisia. Feasibility studies, which began in February 2008, show that there is a high possibility of finding oil there.
Triet praised the corporation for expanding its operations to a number of countries worldwide, including Africa. He said the oil sector’s efficient operations in Tunisia will help strengthen ties between the two countries.
Earlier, Triet held talks with Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Ben Ali.
The same day, an agreement on double tax avoidance and income tax evasion prevention was signed by Deputy Minister of Finance Pham Sy Danh and Tunisian Secretary of State for Finance Moncef Bouden in Tunis.
Later, Triet left Tunisia for a state visit to Algeria at the invitation of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
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