Welcoming Minister Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing and his delegation to visit Vietnam and attend the Vietnam International Tourism Fair VITM 2025, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that Vietnam and Malaysia are two countries in the ASEAN bloc, with good friendly and cooperative relations.

Congratulations to Minister Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing, in his capacity as Malaysia's Chair of ASEAN, for successfully hosting two Ministerial Meetings in the field of culture and tourism within the framework of ASEAN cooperation (the 11th ASEAN Culture Ministers' Meeting; the 28th ASEAN Tourism Ministers' Meeting). Vietnam believes that, under the Chairmanship of Minister Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing, ASEAN cultural and tourism cooperation will continue to make important contributions to the success of Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2025, as well as the implementation of the ASEAN Post-2025 Action Plan.

Regarding the cooperation between the two countries, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that based on the commitments and joint statements of the leaders of the two countries, we have promoted the cooperation to a new level. With many cultural similarities, the two countries have had many cultural cooperation activities such as organizing cultural days and cultural weeks between the two countries, thereby helping the people of the two countries to better understand culture and become more connected.

Regarding cooperation in the tourism sector, the Minister was pleased to note that, with the advantage of having many direct flights between the two countries, Malaysia is currently the second largest tourist market of Vietnam in ASEAN and the seventh in the world, with the number of Malaysian visitors growing steadily.

In the field of sports, the two sides have also closely coordinated in many disciplines as well as had opportunities to exchange and practice, contributing to improving achievements in competitions.

Emphasizing that Vietnam and Malaysia still have a lot of potential and room to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of culture, sports and tourism, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that exploiting these potentials will make an important contribution to the socio-economic development and common development of the two countries.

According to the Minister, on the basis of the good friendship between the two countries, this is the time for the two Ministries to join hands closely, have specific plans and a clear roadmap for more effective cooperation.

Thanking Minister Nguyen Van Hung for taking the time to welcome and work with the delegation, Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing said that during his working trip to Vietnam, Minister Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing had many meetings with tourism organizations and businesses in Vietnam to seek solutions to promote tourism development between the two countries.

Affirming that tourism is a key industry in Malaysia's economic development, Minister Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing expressed his hope to receive stronger support and coordination from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and agencies and organizations in Vietnam to promote tourism development between the two countries.

At the meeting, the two sides made many proposals and recommendations and expressed high consensus on further strengthening cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism between the two countries.

In particular, the two sides support the plan to open more routes and increase flights (especially night flights) between the two countries; Encourage and support tourism businesses on both sides to develop more tours and routes, helping not only to increase two-way tourist exchanges, but also to attract tourists from third countries to Vietnam and Malaysia.

The two sides also agreed that developing festival tourism is a direction that opens up many opportunities for many countries, aiming to improve competitiveness and sustainable growth.

Vietnam is a country with a strong national cultural identity with thousands of festivals held each year. Besides traditional festivals in many localities, modern festivals are also attracting domestic and foreign visitors, contributing to the development of Vietnam's tourism. Vietnam is ready to cooperate with Malaysia to develop tourism through festivals, culinary introduction programs...

Regarding Muslim tourism, Malaysia is requested to share experiences and support Vietnam in building the Vietnamese Halal industry; encourage investment in production and supply chains of Halal products in Vietnam to better serve Malaysian Muslim tourists.

To promote and advertise, exhibit and learn about tourism products, the two sides assigned the national tourism agencies of Vietnam and Malaysia to inform and support each other in participating in tourism stimulus events such as fairs, international seminars, exchange of promotion delegations, and communication to promote the recovery of tourist exchanges, facilitate tourism business connections and encourage investment, and enhance the effectiveness of business cooperation.

Vietnam affirms its importance to developing the Malaysian market and recognizes the increasing demand for learning about and traveling in Malaysia among Vietnamese people. Malaysia is a favorite destination for Vietnamese people. In the coming time, the two sides will actively strengthen policies and measures to promote sustainable tourism growth, promote strengths, and cooperate in bilateral and intra-bloc tourism.

In addition, the two sides also agreed to maintain and further strengthen the exchange of delegations at all levels to seek solutions to further strengthen the cooperative relationship. Hopefully, in the coming time, the two sides will have specific cooperation programs, for the common cooperation and development of the two countries.

On this occasion, Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato' Sri Tiong King Sing invited Minister Nguyen Van Hung and the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to attend the event in Malaysia from April 23-25, 2025. Minister Nguyen Van Hung also invited the Malaysian side to attend the ASEAN Music Festival organized by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Vietnam's accession to ASEAN (expected to take place at the end of May 2025 in Dak Lak province).

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/dua-quan-he-hop-tac-van-hoa-du-lich-giua-viet-nam-va-malaysia-len-tam-cao-moi-20250414114022278.htm