Vietnam sees Kuwait as important economic partner

Vietnam always considers Kuwait one of its important economic partners, and wants to further promote the bilateral ties, especially in the oil and gas sector, said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Tuesday. PM Dung made the statement in capital Hanoi when receiving Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Mustafa Al- Shamali. As scheduled, the Kuwaiti minister will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Nghi Son oil refinery complex in central Thanh Hoa province, about 140 km south of capital Hanoi, to which the Kuwait Petroleum International Limited is among four main investors. The others are from Vietnam and Japan. Dung conveyed sincere thanks to the Kuwaiti government, which through the Kuwaiti Development Fund has supported Vietnam with loans to invest in rural infrastructure development projects. He also expressed his hope that Kuwait will help train human resources for Vietnamese oil and gas sector and approve Vietnamese workers' entry to Kuwait. The Vietnamese leader highly evaluated efforts made by the Kuwaiti government in facilitating construction of the Nghi Son oil refinery complex, particularly its commitment in supplying crude oil to the refinery throughout its life-long operations. Kuwait and Vietnam have great potentials for cooperation, and Kuwait wants to further cooperate with Vietnam particularly in the energy, industries and oil and gas sector, said the Kuwaiti deputy PM Mustafa Al-Shamali. He also confirmed that the Kuwaiti government will provide favorable conditions to Vietnamese firms who want to do business in the country, as well as support Vietnam in human resources training for the oil sector. On the occasion, the Kuwaiti government donated three million U. S. dollars to help victims of storm Nari in central Vietnam.