Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung, waves while visiting Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon on August 15. Pic: AFP/Khin Maung Win

THE Vietnamese Prime Minister, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung, visited Myanmar last week for a goodwill visit aimed at strengthening business ties between the two countries.

Mr Dung arrived in Nay Pyi Taw on August 14 for a two-day visit during which a memorandum of understanding was signed between Vietnam’s state-owned oil company PETROVIETNAM and the Ministry of Energy for oil and gas exploration in Myanmar.

The visit included a meeting between Mr Dung and the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, on the first day of the visit.

It was Mr Dung’s first visit to Myanmar since becoming prime minister last year.
The visit was at the invitation of the acting Prime Minister Lieutenant General Thein Sein, with whom Mr Dung met on August 14 to discuss the promotion of bilateral ties.

Mr Dung told a seminar at Yangon’s Sedona Hotel on August 15 that the main aim of his visit was to discuss with the Myanmar leadership ways of increasing cooperation in trade, investment and other business relations.

“We have also agreed to enhance our economic, trade and investment ties, which are developing very well,” Mr Dung told the seminar, which was attended by Myanmar and Vietnamese businesspeople.

Mr Dung was accompanied by his wife, as well as five senior government ministers, including the Foreign Minister, Mr Pham Gia Khiem, and a 44-member business delegation.

He said the total volume of bilateral trade during the last fiscal year had increased by 15 percent to US$72 million.

“The two governments agreed to provide all favourable conditions to explore more opportunities to develop the ties,” Mr Dung said.

“We have agreed to increase interactions between two countries in agriculture, tourism and fisheries, as well as in manufacturing and exports.”

“We have also agreed to promote the development of tourism and services,” he said, adding that state-owned Vietnam Airlines was planning to launch direct flights between Hanoi and Yangon to help facilitate economic cooperation.

In an address at the seminar, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, U Win Myint, praised Vietnam for its economic development since the country introduced economic reforms in 1986.

“[Vietnam’s] achievement in industrial and agriculture sectors is unique in the world. We look forward to cooperating more closely with your business community,” U Win Myint said.

“We are here to learn from your experiences,” he said.
Earlier the same day, Mr Dung held a working breakfast at Nay Pyi Taw with prominent Myanmar businesspeople to discus the strengthening of business ties.

Among those at the breakfast meeting was a prominent businessman, U Maung Maung Lay, who told The Myanmar Times that Mr Dung was keen to increase economic cooperation.

He said the promotion of economic ties between the two countries would be mutually beneficial.

“When the economic activities planned under the proposed East-West Economic Corridor begin to take shape later this year, Myanmar can serve as a transit trading route for Vietnam in its trade with South Asian countries, while Vietnam would serve as a transit trading route between Myanmar with Japan and South Korea,” U Maung Maung Lay said.

The East-West Economic Corridor project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, involves establishing a highway linking Mawlamyine in Mon State and Danang, a major port city on Vietnam’s southern coast. The highway, which passes through Thailand and Laos, is aimed at promoting trade and investment in the four countries.

Another prominent businessman, U Myat Thin Aung, said he believed that bilateral trade would expand because of the increased interaction between the two governments.

“We import medicines, fertilisers and other goods from Vietnam. We import more than we export,” he said.

Tour operators have welcomed the plans to launch direct flights between Hanoi and Yangon.

Dr Aung Myat Kyaw, the managing director of Orchestra Travel Ltd, which owns the luxury Sandoway resort at Ngapali Beach, said the direct flights will help to boost tourism in the two countries.

“These flights will not only promote travel between the two nations but will also attract the Korean and Japanese markets,” Dr Aung Myat Kyaw said.

Daw Su Su Tin, the managing director of Exotissimo Travel and Tours, part of a group that specialises in arranging tours in Indochina, said the flights would help to attract more visitors from North America and Europe.

“We are selling single packages to visit Vietnam and Myanmar to travellers from Europe and America,” Daw Su Su Tin said.

“If there are direct flights between Yangon and Hanoi, it will be more convenient for visitors,” she said.

The visit by Mr Dung was in line with a tradition for prime ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries to visit other member states as soon as possible after taking office.

Mr Dung left Myanmar for Brunei on a tour that also included visits to Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.