Vietnam, Malaysia step up cooperation in energy, Halal fields

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien (C) and representatives of TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd. (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur – A delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade led by Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had a working session with TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur on November 22.

Dien, who is accompanying General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam and his spouse on an official visit to Malaysia, applauded the interest and cooperation of TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd as well as Malaysian businesses with Vietnam, and affirmed that Vietnam has extremely huge potention for wind power development as the country has a coastline of more than 3,260 kilometres.

The Minister said that the power grid connecting from Vietnam to Malaysia and Singapore will be part of the green power grid between Southeast Asian countries. He affirmed that Vietnam always creates favourable conditions for investors to carry out research and survey locations to develop renewable energy power projects to serve green electricity export projects.

TNB Renewables is a fully-owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia's leading electricity utility company which accounts for 50% of Malaysia's electricity capacity market share. Currently, Malaysia has built an energy transition roadmap, aiming for net zero emissions by 2050. To achieve that goal, TNB is focusing on four main areas in the energy transition process, including expanding investment in renewable energy at home and abroad, promoting decarbonization technology, modernising the power grid and enhancing grid efficiency.

Datuk Ir. Dr. Shamsul Ahmad, TNB Chief Regulatory and Stakeholder Management Officer, affirmed that the company is aiming to accelerate the sustainable energy transition process in Malaysia in particular and Southeast Asia in general.

In recent times, the company has been very interested in investment cooperation with Vietnam in the field of onshore and offshore wind power, he said, expressing his hope that the two sides will not only support and facilitate the development of existing joint projects but also expand to investment cooperation projects in third countries.

Regarding Halal cooperation, this is an area of cooperation that has received great attention from senior leaders of the two countries, and plays a very important role, not only helping to increase bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Malaysia but also helping enterprises of both sides exploit business opportunities in other markets. In that spirit, on November 22, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Asia-Africa Market Department and the Halal Development Corporation (HDC) signed a Letter of Intent on Halal cooperation.

Vietnam Trade Counsellor in Malaysia Le Phu Cuong told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s resident correspondent in Kuala Lumpur that the recently signed Letter of Intent is important, thereby supporting the recognition of common goals of both sides in training and organising exhibitions, seminars and symposiums on Halal products in Vietnam and Malaysia. This activity not only helps improve businesses' understanding of Halal exports to the Malaysian market but also to the Muslim countries’ markets in general.

Up to now, only about 1,000 businesses exporting to the Malaysian market have Halal certificates for about 3,000 products. This agreement will help solve one of the major difficulties of Vietnamese businesses exporting to the Malaysian market, which is Halal certification.

Currently, the potential for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, including the fields of energy and Halal products, is still very large. However, in order for this cooperation to become more substantive and effective, the two sides need to promote trade promotion activities, connect businesses to popularise each other's products, and enhance search and cooperation in areas where both sides have strengths, he added./.