New momentum expected from PM’s upcoming visit to Kuwait
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will begin an overseas tour on November 16-24 with a stop in Kuwait, the first visit by a Vietnamese Government leader in 16 years and timed ahead of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties (January 10) next year.
Nearly five decades of robust friendship
Kuwait was the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam on January 10, 1976. Vietnam opened its embassy in Kuwait City in 2003, Kuwait reciprocated with an embassy in Hanoi and a Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City in 2007.
The two countries have maintained high-level visits and exchanges, meetings of the Inter-Governmental Committee, and deputy foreign ministerial level political consultations.
Economic, trade, and investment has emerged as a bright spot of bilateral ties. Kuwait is now Vietnam’s largest GCC trade partner and investor. Two-way trade hit 7.3 billion USD in 2024 and topped 5 billion USD in the first nine months of 2025. Vietnam ships seafood, fruits, vegetables, cashew nuts, pepper, wood products and components to Kuwait, while importing mainly crude oil. Kuwait granted market-economy status to Vietnam in 2016, and their 1995 bilateral trade agreement remains in force.
On the investment front, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, in partnership with Japan, is a co-owner of the 9 billion USD Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, which started commercial operations in 2018 and supplies 5-7 million tonnes of petroleum products annually to Vietnam under a long-term crude supply deal.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has extended roughly 190 million USD in concessional financing for 15 infrastructure projects across Vietnamese cities and provinces for many years.
Locality-to-locality links include a 2010 cooperation agreement between Ho Chi Minh City and Ahmadi Governorate and a 2018 pact between Thanh Hoa province and Al Farwaniyah Governorate, facilitating people-to-people exchanges and trade.
In education and training, the Kuwaiti Government has offered scholarships to many Vietnamese students to study Arabic at Kuwait University annually since 2013.
The two countries work closely together and offer mutual support at multilateral forums. Both sides stand ready to act as bridges for cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the GCC in both political and economic spheres, opening a promising path toward deeper inter-regional connectivity in the future.
Continued consolidation of bilateral ties
PM Chinh’s visit to Kuwait carries important significance, reaffirming Vietnam’s determination to advance its foreign policy strategy toward the Middle East and realise the Politburo's Resolution 59 on global integration in the new situation.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait Nguyen Duc Thang said through this visit, Vietnam seeks to further consolidate its friendship with Kuwait, enhance political trust, expand market access, and unlock untapped cooperation areas.
The timing is opportune to elevate bilateral relations to a new level that supports mutual ambitions: Vietnam’s goal of becoming a developing country with modern industry and ranking among the top 30 global economies by 2030 and a high-income developed country by 2045, and Kuwait’s Vision 2035 that aims to transform itself into a leading financial and trade hub in the region and the world, he said.
The visit coincides with Kuwait’s rotating presidency of GCC and a marked shift in Kuwaiti policy toward stronger ties with Asia, including ASEAN members. Vietnam and Kuwait are well-positioned to act as bridges for enhanced ASEAN-GCC inter-regional cooperation, the ambassador added.
Vietnam also hopes that Kuwait will uphold its role in advancing the launch of negotiations on a Vietnam–GCC Free Trade Agreement in 2025, he said.
During the trip, the Vietnamese PM is due to meet with Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, hold talks with Kuwaiti PM Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and receive several ministers and executives of major Kuwaiti conglomerates, according to VNA.
 |
| PM Pham Minh Chinh, along with ASEAN and GCC leaders, attend the second ASEAN - GCC Summit (Photo: VNA) |
Both sides will review nearly 50 years of partnership and set wider frameworks for future collaboration. The PM is scheduled to address the Kuwait Diplomatic Institute, delivering strong messages about Vietnam’s steady socio-economic progress and its long-term strategic vision for deeper, multi-faceted ties with the Middle East, with Kuwait as a priority partner.
The diplomat pointed to ample room to develop key potential sectors, firstly oil, gas, and energy. As the world undergoes a strong shift toward renewable energy, Vietnam and Kuwait have many opportunities to cooperate in developing green and clean energy, in alignment with each country’s goals and international commitments. The two countries can jointly study and invest in solar power, wind power, and green hydrogen projects, leveraging Kuwait’s financial strengths and Vietnam’s production and technical capabilities.
The two countries could also partner on major projects to build new regional financial centres. Vietnam’s dynamic economy and attractive business climate positions it as an ideal Southeast Asian gateway for Kuwaiti investors, while Kuwait serves as a strategic partner that helps Vietnam enter the Middle Eastern and adjacent markets.
Food security presents another promising avenue. Vietnam can provide Kuwait with quality, stable Halal-certified supplies, helping Kuwait diversify sources while enabling Vietnamese producers to scale Halal value chains for broader GCC and Middle East penetration.
Looking forward, both sides can accelerate direct flights and joint tourism campaigns to boost people-to-people and business exchanges that will sustain momentum in government, corporate and civil-society ties in the coming years, he added.
Vietnam, US push forward trade talks, agricultural imports
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien held talks with US Congressman Adrian Smith in Washington D.C. on November 13, seeking to advance Vietnam-US trade negotiations and expand imports of American agricultural products.
Smith, a Republican representing Nebraska, serves as Chair of the US House Subcommittee on Trade and is a key voice for the US agricultural sector. The meeting focused on the potential, prospects and recent progress in Vietnam-US economic cooperation, including with the state of Nebraska.
Dien said that since Vietnam and the US launched reciprocal trade negotiations earlier this year, Vietnam has committed to importing a range of American products.
Vietnamese businesses, he noted, are particularly interested in high-quality corn from US states - an essential input for seed production and ethanol processing used in biofuel, a key element of Vietnam’s sustainable energy strategy. Beef from Nebraska has also gained strong popularity among Vietnamese consumers.
He expressed his hope that Vietnam and Nebraska could establish practical cooperation mechanisms in areas of shared interest, thereby helping deepen bilateral economic and trade ties.
Since the start of the year, Vietnam’s imports from the US have risen sharply: cotton by 126%, seafood by 8%, and corn and soybeans by 35%. Vietnam has also signed multiple aircraft purchase contracts with US manufacturers. Acknowledging the existing trade imbalance between the two countries, Dien said that removing Vietnam from the US’s D1/D3 list - the group of countries restricted in accessing certain high-tech products - would provide an important basis for achieving more balanced trade, VNA reported.
 |
| Minister Nguyen Hong Dien hopes to establish practical cooperation mechanisms with the state of Nebraska. (Photo: The Courtesy of MoIT) |
Dien called on Smith, given his strong political influence and deep understanding of trade and agriculture, to support Vietnam during the negotiation process. He encouraged the Congressman to act as a bridge fostering cooperation between Vietnam and the US, especially in areas of Nebraska’s strengths such as agriculture, aviation and biotechnology.
Smith welcomed Dien’s visit and message, expressing confidence that recent positive developments create favourable conditions to boost bilateral trade cooperation. He praised Vietnam’s efforts to promote trade balance, particularly its increased corn purchases for biofuel production. Having previously visited Vietnamese agricultural and seafood facilities, he affirmed the strong potential for expanding imports of US raw materials.
He expressed his hope that both sides would soon conclude reciprocal trade negotiations and that the agreement would generate meaningful benefits for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
Vietnam, UN share the goal of putting people at the center of development
Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu recently held a working session with Pauline Tamesis, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam and Head of UN development agencies, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters to discuss key policy directions for Vietnam’s development in the coming period.
At the session, Vu shared Vietnam’s notable socio-economic development achievements in recent years and its strategic development goals for the period ahead, emphasizing that these results stem from the determination of the Party and the State, along with a number of strategic reform measures, particularly in organizational restructuring and the formulation of breakthrough strategic resolutions.
Highlighting the profound political significance of the 14th Party Congress in reviewing 40 years of the Renewal (Doi Moi) process and shaping the country’s development vision, the Vietnamese diplomat noted that the system of documents was meticulously prepared with many new elements, based on an objective assessment of domestic and international contexts, while showing the determination to promote rapid and sustainable development and the nation’s aspiration for stronger development.
Key directions identified include restructuring the growth model, accelerating industrialization and modernization, implementing comprehensive digital transformation, enhancing the efficiency of the state economic sector, leveraging the driving role of the private economic sector, promoting breakthroughs in science and technology, continuing to streamline the apparatus, and placing people at the center, as both the subject and the ultimate goal of all development policies.
Thanking the United Nations for its support in Vietnam’s development process, Deputy FM Nguyen Minh Vu hoped that UN development agencies and international experts would draw on their knowledge and experience to provide constructive advice on the proposed directions.
Thanking the United Nations for its support in Vietnam’s development process, Deputy FM Nguyen Minh Vu hoped that UN development agencies and international experts would leverage their knowledge and experience to contribute constructive input to the outlined directions.
Congratulating Vietnam on its tremendous socio-economic achievements in recent years, Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis expressed admiration for the country’s aspiration for comprehensive development and the long-term strategic vision reflected in the draft documents. She positively assessed Vietnam’s progress in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and expressed confidence that Vietnam will continue to grow strongly, achieve breakthrough advances in the new era of development, and assert its increasingly important role in regional and global cooperation mechanisms.
UN development agencies also highly appreciated Vietnam’s contributions to working with the UN and other countries to address global challenges, most recently through successfully hosting the opening ceremony for the signing of the UN Convention against Cybercrime. They also expressed hope that the upcoming Party Congress documents will more clearly demonstrate Vietnam’s commitments to strengthening multilateralism and the role of the United Nations and other international organizations, reported VOV.
 |
| Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu and UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pauline Tamesis (Photo: The World and Vietnam Report) |
Representatives of UN agencies in Vietnam also shared numerous assessments and recommendations to help Vietnam optimize development opportunities, particularly in planning financial resources for development, promoting gender equality, protecting vulnerable groups in digital transformation, responding to climate change, and advancing cultural, educational, and healthcare initiatives to improve human resource quality and ensure social welfare linked with sustainable development-all aligned with the implementation of major policy directions on these issues in the draft Party Congress documents.
UN agencies expressed confidence in Vietnam’s long-term growth, emphasizing that the strategic directions and policy priorities outlined in the draft documents of the 14th Party Congress will continue to provide a foundation for deeper integration and rapid, sustainable development.
UN development agencies are ready to continue supporting agencies and localities in carrying out the Party’s major development directions for the country through various frameworks and cooperative projects.
Appreciating the objective and substantive assessments, as well as the collaborative suggestions and initiatives from UN agencies, Vu affirmed that Vietnam and the United Nations share the vision of placing people at the center of all development processes. He expressed confidence that UN and international organizations’ cooperative efforts, support, and constructive recommendations will continue to play an important role as Vietnam pursues its national development goals in the coming period.
Hanoi to hit 13°C as powerful cold front slams northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam is bracing for extreme cold from November 17, with Hanoi expected to drop to 13°C.
A major cold spell is expected to intensify from November 17, dramatically dividing weather patterns between northern and central Vietnam. The North may experience biting cold, with temperatures in some areas dropping below 10°C, while torrential rains threaten Central Vietnam.
On November 14, meteorological experts confirmed a powerful cold front moving south, bringing with it strong northeasterly winds over the Gulf of Tonkin at levels 7 to 8, gusting up to level 9. Waves in the area are expected to reach heights of 3–5 meters. Meanwhile, the northern East Sea will see even stronger gusts up to level 10, with 4–6 meter waves. From Quang Tri to Quang Ngai, coastal waters are forecasted to experience level 6–7 winds, gusting to levels 8–9, with waves up to 6 meters high.
In the North and northern Central provinces such as Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, rainfall is expected from November 17–18 due to the cold front. After that, the skies will clear, and temperatures will plunge. Nighttime lows will hover around 12–15°C, with some high-altitude areas falling below 10°C. During the day, dry, sunny, and crisp conditions are expected.
"In contrast to the northern chill, provinces from Ha Tinh to Khanh Hoa will see widespread moderate to heavy rain, with totals ranging from 100 to 300mm," a meteorological expert noted. "The heaviest rainfall will occur from Hue to Gia Lai, where totals may reach 250 to 500mm, and locally over 600mm."
Hanoi weather plunges deep into winter conditions
The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting confirmed that, as of November 14, a strong cold air mass is descending from the North.
By November 17, this cold front will affect the northeastern and north-central regions first, then move into the northwest and central-central regions. Northeasterly winds over land will range from levels 3–4, and level 4–5 in coastal areas.
Scattered rain is forecasted in the North from November 17–18. From the night of November 17, both northern and north-central regions will turn cold, with high-altitude areas likely to see frost. Nighttime lows are expected between 12–15°C, with mountainous areas dipping below 10°C.
In Hanoi, temperatures are forecasted to drop to 13–15°C starting the night of November 17.
Central Vietnam braces for prolonged downpours
As the cold front combines with disturbances in the upper easterly wind belt, central provinces from Ha Tinh to Khanh Hoa will experience prolonged heavy rainfall.
From the night of November 15 to 16, areas from southern Quang Tri to Da Nang, eastern Quang Ngai to Dak Lak, and Khanh Hoa will receive 60–120mm of rain, with localized areas exceeding 200mm.
Northern Quang Tri to Ha Tinh will receive 40–70mm of rainfall, while western parts of Quang Ngai to Dak Lak will see 20–40mm, locally surpassing 100mm.
There is a warning for potential extreme rainfall intensity (>150mm in 3 hours), VNN reported.
 |
| Hanoi weather is about to turn sharply cold. Photo: Dinh Hieu |
From November 16 to 18, Hue, Da Nang, eastern Quang Ngai, and Gia Lai may see 250–500mm of rainfall, with some areas surpassing 600mm.
Ha Tinh to Quang Tri, eastern Dak Lak, and Khanh Hoa are forecasted to receive 100–300mm, locally above 400mm. Western areas from Quang Ngai to Dak Lak may see 50–100mm, with peaks over 150mm.
Total rainfall for the period of November 15–18 is projected as follows:
Hue, Da Nang, eastern Quang Ngai, and Gia Lai: 300–600mm, locally above 800mm.
Ha Tinh to Quang Tri, eastern Dak Lak, and Khanh Hoa: 150–350mm, locally above 500mm.
Western Quang Ngai to Dak Lak: 70–150mm.
From November 19, heavy rainfall will likely persist in Da Nang and areas from Quang Ngai to Khanh Hoa.
In the South, moderate rain and thunderstorms are forecasted from November 16–18, with localized heavy rainfall of 50–100mm, and some places exceeding 150mm.
Disaster risk alert for rain, lightning, hail, and whirlwinds in Hue, Da Nang, eastern Quang Ngai, and Gia Lai is at level 2.
Heavy rain may lead to flooding in low-lying urban and industrial zones, flash floods in small rivers and streams, and landslides in mountainous regions. Cold weather also poses a threat to livestock and crop growth.
Central rivers on flood watch
As of November 14, water levels on rivers from Quang Tri to Dak Lak remain volatile.
From November 16–20, a new flooding event is expected across rivers in this region. Peak flood levels are forecasted to reach warning levels 2–3 on rivers such as the Bo and Huong (Hue), Vu Gia–Thu Bon (Da Nang), Tra Khuc and Ve (Quang Ngai), Se San, Kon, and upper Ba (Gia Lai), and lower Ba and Ky Lo (Dak Lak). Some rivers may exceed level 3.
Other rivers, including An Lao, Kien Giang, and Thach Han (Quang Tri), Lai Giang (Gia Lai), and Krong Ana and Srepok (Dak Lak), are expected to reach levels 1–2, and possibly above level 2.
Authorities warn of possible severe flooding in riverside urban and rural areas across provinces from Quang Tri to Dak Lak. Flash floods and landslides are likely in mountainous and hilly terrains.
 | Vietnam News Today (Nov. 12): Vietnam, US Hold Ministerial-level Talks on Reciprocal Trade Agreement Vietnam News Today (Nov. 12): Vietnam, US hold ministerial-level talks on reciprocal trade agreement; Vietnam, China strengthen cooperation in border management; Vietnam, India launch 2025 ... |
 | Vietnam News Today (Nov. 13): Vietnam, Solomon Islands Sign MoU to Spur Cooperation Vietnam News Today (Nov. 13): Vietnam and Jordan expand bilateral cooperation toward sustainable future; Vietnam, Solomon Islands sign MoU to spur cooperation; Vietnam highly values ... |
