Mohammad: UAE keen on fruitful ties with Vietnam

Hanoi: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, arrived here on Monday on a two-day official visit to Vietnam.

"Our visit to Vietnam reflects the keen desire of the leaderships of the UAE and Vietnam to find ways to establish fruitful bilateral economic, commercial and investment relations," Shaikh Mohammad said in a statement upon arrival.

"The UAE and Vietnam will explore the future possibilities and find certain mechanisms to translate what will be agreed upon during our talks with the Vietnamese leaders," he said

"We hope these talks will come out with practical visions and ideas on which we can build a solid foundation for a joint fruitful cooperation, Shaikh Mohammad added.

"We are looking forward to talks with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that would yield favourable results for the interest of both the two countries and their peoples," Shaikh Mohammad said.

Understanding culture

He expressed the hope that his visit would allow him to know the culture, civilisation and achievements of the Vietnamese people, who struggled for long time to gain their country's independence and freedom, and build a modern state.

Shaikh Mohammad is accompanied by a high-profile delegation that includes Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Corporation and Chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group; Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy; Dr. Mohammad Khalfan Bin Kharbash, Minister of State for Financial and Industrial Affairs; Dr. Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour; Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and other senior officials.

Shaikh Mohammad will later travel to China to head the UAE delegation to the World Economic Forum in Dalian.

He will also hold talks with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the forum- the first to be hosted by the Asian giant.