Prime Minister's meetings with UAE funds boost support for more Emirati investment activities in Viet Nam

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, October 28-29, 2024 - On the morning of October 29, 2024, in Abu Dhabi, as part of his official visit to the UAE, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held meetings with leaders of two major UAE sovereign wealth funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mubadala Investment Company.

Representing the State Capital Investment Corporation at the meetings was Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, Chairman of SCIC's Board of Members.

Prime Minister meets with ADIA leadership

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposes ADIA to cooperate and support Viet Nam in developing investment funds for transportation infrastructure, climate change response infrastructure, green transformation, energy transition, digital transformation, innovation, and artificial intelligence... (Photo: Government News)

ADIA (established in 1976) represents the Abu Dhabi Government of UAE, in managing Abu Dhabi's investment assets. ADIA currently manages assets of approximately 993 billion USD, making it the fourth largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.

During the meeting, the ADIA leader introduced the Abu Dhabi fund and presented ADIA's plans for seeking investment opportunities and expanding relations with Viet Nam, affirming ADIA's strategy of long-term investment commitment.

With their advantageous positions and geographical locations, Viet Nam and UAE play important roles in ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regions respectively. Viet Nam, as a developing country with a large population, has significant needs in attracting investment from various countries, including the UAE.

Appreciating ADIA's effective operations and contributions to the economic development and investment of Abu Dhabi in particular and the UAE in general, the Prime Minister noted that Vietn Nm has issued a National List of Projects Calling for Foreign Investment, which ADIA can reference and study to consider investing in Viet Nam's national key projects.

More specifically, the Prime Minister stated that Viet Nam is promoting the development of transportation infrastructure, climate change response infrastructure, green transformation, energy transition, and digital transformation. The country is building major seaports and Long Thanh Airport with international transit roles; preparing to invest in the North-South high-speed railway project with a total capital of approximately 67 billion USD, along with many other railway projects worth billions of USD; and developing national data centers, IT infrastructure, and infrastructure for exploiting new development spaces.

Prime Minister affirms Viet Nam will create the most favorable conditions for investors to operate effectively, stably, sustainably, and long-term (Photo: Government News)

The Prime Minister proposed that ADIA cooperate and support Viet Nam in developing investment funds for transportation infrastructure, climate change response infrastructure, green transformation, energy transition, digital transformation, innovation, and artificial intelligence. He also suggested collaboration in building and developing financial centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, free trade zones, and cargo transit centers such as crude oil and petrochemical product storage and transit centers in Viet Nam, as well as developing tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Additionally, ADIA could cooperate with Viet Nam's Food Corporations to contribute to ensuring food security for the UAE.

The Prime Minister affirmed Viet Nam's commitment to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of investors, creating the most favorable conditions for investors to operate effectively, stably, sustainably, and long-term.

Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan strongly agreed and stated that ADIA is ready to implement the Prime Minister's suggestions in carrying out cooperation and investment projects in Viet Nam, especially in the areas mentioned by the Prime Minister, which are also ADIA's primary areas of expertise. ADIA is also ready to provide recommendations and assist Viet Nam in building and developing investment funds. He said he would quickly send a working delegation to Viet Nam to transform these cooperation ideas into reality as soon as possible.

The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment as the focal point to support and provide information to ADIA; both embassies to facilitate information exchange between the two sides; and the National Oil and Gas Group, State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), and food corporations to discuss specific potential projects that both sides could implement in the upcoming period.

Prime Minister meets with Mubadala leadership

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Buti Al Hamed, CEO of Mubadala Investment Company. The UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure also attended the meeting.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Buti Al Hamed, CEO of Mubadala Group (Photo: Government News)

Mubadala (established in 2017) is owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, UAE. It is one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, with total assets of approximately 300 billion USD.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh noted that Viet Nam-UAE relations have developed well with mutual trust, especially since the two countries recently established a Comprehensive Partnership and signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, providing an important foundation for businesses from both countries to expand cooperation and investment.

The Prime Minister welcomed and appreciated Mubadala's business activities and effective cooperation and investment with Viet Nam, supporting Mubadala's vision and commitment to responsible investment in their business activities.

The Prime Minister suggested Mubadala continue to promote investment and business activities, serving as a bridge to bring UAE investors in particular and foreign investors in general to invest in Viet Nam in key areas such as transportation infrastructure, climate change response infrastructure, digital infrastructure, urban infrastructure, industry, services; traditional energy like oil and gas, renewable energy; emerging fields like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, Internet of Things; development of financial centers, free trade zones; and policy consultation, institutional building and improvement to mobilize resources, especially public-private partnership resources for development.

Noting that cooperation potential between the two sides remains vast, with the vision and innovative thinking of both countries' leaders, the Prime Minister suggested promoting cooperation with the principle of "easy first, difficult later, small to large, low to high, simple to complex." He emphasized maximizing two important factors - "time and intelligence" - hoping for breakthrough cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

For his part, Mr. Bakheet Al Katheeri assessed Viet Nam as an important country in Asia with a rapidly developing economy. Mubadala is very interested in cooperating with Viet Nam, especially in infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and energy sectors.

Stating that Mubadala's strategy is to invest more in Asia, focusing on infrastructure, oil and gas, seaports, electricity, technology, and transportation, he expressed desire to discuss specific projects with Viet Nam, especially with PetroVietnam regarding oil and gas projects and other service and industrial projects. With commitment and desire for cooperation, the company will send a working delegation to Viet Nam with a list of specific project proposals in the near future.

Welcoming Mubadala's leadership to visit and work in Viet Nam, the Prime Minister said he would assign a minister to coordinate overall cooperation with the UAE, initially assigning the Ministry of Industry and Trade (for energy, trade), Ministry of Planning and Investment (for investment funds), PetroVietnam, and State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to contact and exchange with Mubadala to implement specific work.

The Vietnamese Government continues to promote investment environment improvement, administrative procedure reform toward transparency, compliance cost reduction, decentralization, strategic infrastructure development investment with streamlined institutions, smooth infrastructure, and smart governance to reduce costs and increase competitiveness for products and businesses.

The Vietnamese Government commits to accompanying and facilitating foreign investors, including Mubadala, in developing effective and sustainable business investment activities aimed at prosperity for both sides in the coming time.