The Minister said that Malaysia views Viet Nam as a long-term partner in light of the country's robust growth rate in recent years and the Vietnamese guest workers' hard-working nature.

The reception's host, President Tran Duc Luong, expressed his delight at the ever-tightening relations between Viet Nam and Malaysia, particularly at the effective implementation of the two countries' agreements, signed at the third working session of the Joint Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation in 1994.

At a reception hosted by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai the same day, Minister Syed revealed that Malaysian companies have very positive opinions about the business environment of Viet Nam, expressing his hope for closer ties between the two peoples and a continued boost of two-way trade and investment.

In response, PM Khai proposed that the two countries should work on a long-term cooperative action plan, spotlighting prioritised cooperation fields to make the cooperation more focused and effective.

Viet Nam-Malaysia two-way trade topped 2.2 billion USD in 2005, surpassing the target of 1.5 billion USD set at the third joint committee meeting in 2004./.