Shoura’s Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Ghamdi said that the council backed several draft agreements to strengthen international cooperation with friendly countries.
The agreement on Vietnam was presented to the council by the Economic Affairs Committee. Al-Ghamdi said bilateral cooperation with Vietnam included areas in agriculture, livestock and fisheries. He also added that the two countries would concentrate on improving their economic cooperation and encourage entrepreneurs to invest in each other's countries.
In April, Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet met Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and held wide-ranging talks here to boost bilateral ties, especially in oil, food and manpower.
During this visit, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of three major agreements: A treaty to avoid double taxation, a protocol to promote ties in the oil and gas sectors and an agreement to promote cooperation in the agriculture sector.
Triet also addressed the Shoura Council during his stay in Riyadh. Trade volume between the Kingdom and the southeast Asian country exceeds $291 million annually, with Vietnamese exports hitting $118 million.
During a meeting with Saudi businessmen on Friday, Triet asked the Vietnam and Saudi chambers of commerce to speed up the establishment of a joint chamber to act as a bridge for activities between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.
Within the framework of GCC cooperation, the Shoura also approved a memorandum of understanding between the Kingdom and Qatar on Islamic affairs, endowments and the judiciary.
Under this program,the two countries would exchange experience,information and publications on matters relevant to the agreement.
The council also approved the request of the ratification of the draft rules for trade preferences among member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), after hearing a report from its Finance Committee.
The secretary general said that this project would remove the barriers that impede the movement of goods in the Islamic world and would help reduce the tariff rates in trade and pave the way for the liberalization of trade between Islamic countries in the future.
Then the council approved with a majority votes a report of its Foreign Affairs Committee on a draft memorandum of understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba.
The project included six articles designed to strengthen the cooperation and consultation in their bilateral relations and exchange views about regional and international issues of common concern.
