Two-way trade turnover between the two countries continues to increase
On the afternoon of May 25, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his wife presided over the official welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation. After the welcoming ceremony, the two Prime Ministers led delegations from both countries to hold talks.
This is the first visit of a Vietnamese Prime Minister to Malaysia in 10 years and the first visit to Malaysia by a key Vietnamese leader after the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November 2024.
After more than half a century, the relationship between Vietnam and Malaysia has developed positively and positively in all fields, especially since being upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in August 2015 and becoming a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of each other in November 2024.
Economic and trade cooperation is one of the bright spots in the bilateral relationship. Malaysia is currently Vietnam's 3rd largest trading partner in the ASEAN region and Vietnam's 9th largest trading partner in the world.
Two-way trade between the two countries has been steadily increasing, reaching 14.2 billion USD in 2024, striving to reach the target of 18 billion USD in 2025. Malaysia is currently the 10th investor of 143/63 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 13 billion USD.
Security and defense cooperation between the two countries has also been constantly promoted; the fields of labor, culture, education, tourism, people-to-people exchanges, etc. have also recorded many good results. Of which, nearly 40,000 Vietnamese people in Malaysia are a bridge contributing to promoting the traditional relationship between the two countries to become better and better.
Prime Minister honored as Outstanding ASEAN Leaders in 2025
At noon on May 25, in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum.
At the Forum, the Asia-Pacific Strategy Research Institute (KSI) honored the Prime Minister as a typical ASEAN leader in 2025.
The Prime Minister respectfully thanked and said that this is an award for the people and country of Vietnam that he is the one to receive on behalf of.
Speaking at the Forum, KSI President, Mr. Michael Yeoh and speakers assessed that Vietnam is the fastest growing economy and a bright star of ASEAN. With a central role in the regional economic linkage network and multilateral free trade agreements, Vietnam gives investors the advantage of diverse access to markets and supply chains throughout ASEAN.
Therefore, investing in Vietnam is not only investing in a dynamic, stable and rapidly growing economy, but also a strategic step to connect with an area of more than 700 million people - one of the leading growth drivers of the regional and world economies.
Speaking at the Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the important and pioneering mission of enterprises in contributing to the implementation of the common goal of building a self-reliant ASEAN, developing quickly and sustainably, bringing a prosperous and happy life to ASEAN people, no one is left behind.
Regarding the things that need to be done, the Prime Minister said that businesses must strengthen connections with each other, thereby connecting ASEAN and ASEAN economies with the world; contributing to building harmonious institutions and policies between ASEAN countries and with countries around the world; connecting supply chains...
