At the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 18 to 20.

The GCC is a leading regional organization in the Middle East, established in 1981, consisting of 6 Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Vietnam currently has diplomatic relations with all 6 GCC member countries.

ASEAN-GCC relations began in 1990, when the Foreign Minister of Oman, in his capacity as Chairman of the GCC Council of Ministers, expressed the GCC's desire to establish formal relations with ASEAN.

That same year, ASEAN and GCC Foreign Ministers met for the first time on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh prepares to visit Saudi Arabia (Photo: Doan Bac).

ASEAN has agreed to the GCC proposal to hold a bilateral Summit on October 20 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This will be the first time that ASEAN and GCC leaders have met since the establishment of relations in 1990.

At the Summit, ASEAN and GCC leaders are expected to discuss and evaluate the overall cooperation between the two sides in recent times and propose important orientations, creating new momentum to further develop ASEAN - GCC relations in the coming time.

The two sides will also spend time discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, and are expected to adopt a Joint Statement after the summit concludes.

As a core member of ASEAN, Vietnam always promotes a proactive, positive and responsible spirit, effectively contributing to strengthening relations between ASEAN and the GCC, thereby contributing to promoting Vietnam - GCC relations and bilateral relations between Vietnam and each GCC member country.

In 2018, Vietnam took on the role of coordinator of ASEAN - GCC relations, promoting the organization and together with Kuwait, the GCC Chair in 2018, successfully co-chaired the ASEAN - GCC Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New York on September 27, 2018, on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly.

At this conference, the two sides affirmed their commitment to expanding and deepening cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as trade, investment, energy and food security, counter-terrorism, connectivity, tourism, promoting and protecting the rights of migrant workers, etc.

The countries also shared a number of specific measures to promote relations between the two regions, emphasizing the need to increase regular exchanges at all levels, including the possibility of holding ministerial meetings every two years.

Dantri.com.vn