PM Chinh calls for large Saudi Arabian firm’s investment in Vietnam

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, on October 29 for Amin Al-Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest companies in both scale and revenue, with last year’s turnover hitting close to US$500 billion and a total asset exceeding US$660 billion.

Congratulating Vietnam on its socio-economic achievements, Al-Nasser said his firm is greatly interested in the Asian market, including Vietnam, which he highlighted as a promising market.

Saudi Aramco desires to invest in oil refining, petrochemical and petrol distribution in Vietnam, he said, suggesting the PM, ministries, agencies and localities of Vietnam to offer favourable conditions for Saudi Aramco to successfully step up cooperation with Vietnamese partners.

For his part, the Vietnamese cabinet leader applauded Saudi Aramco's interest and investment cooperation plans in Vietnam, particularly with the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam), firstly in the field of oil and gas.

He said Vietnam has a long coastline of over 3,000 km and a favourable location to approach the vast Asian market.

Vietnam also holds huge potential and is developing its oil and gas industry from oil and gas exploration to oil refining, petrochemical and trade.

Petrovietnam possesses extensive experience and a plentiful, quality workforce, making it a promising partner with numerous upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas projects available for collaboration, Chinh told his host.

He urged Saudi Aramco and Petrovietnam to continue their discussions to reach a high level of consensus and define specific cooperation projects. He incentivized Saudi Aramco to invest in Vietnam's oil refining, storage and distribution, not only for the domestic market but also for the broader region and global markets.

The Vietnamese Government chief called on Aramco to invest in Vietnam's oil and gas sector, especially large petrochemical and refining projects, and develop cooperation in trading oil, gas, and petrochemical products such as crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas, plastic pellets, and fertilizers.

He said that the country is strongly improving the investment environment, reforming administrative procedures towards transparency, reducing compliance costs, boosting power decentralisation, and intensifying investment in strategic infrastructure in a way that ensures favourale regulations, seamless infrastructure, and smart governance so as to reduce expenses and increase competitiveness for products and businesses.

Vietnam pledges to accompany and creating optimal conditions for foreign investors, including Saudi Aramco and other Saudi Arabian enterprises, to invest and do business efficiently and sustainably, Chinh emphasized.

Al-Nasser said that he will continue to actively negotiate with Petrovietnam and soon send a working delegation to the country to seek cooperation and investment opportunities through specific projects as proposed by the Vietnamese PM.

After the meeting, PM Chinh witnessed Petrovietnam and Saudi Aramco sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in oil and gas trading.

PM Chinh is in Riyadh for attendance at the 8th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) and working visit to Saudi Arabia.