Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi visited Vietnam today as part of an introductory tour by new in Southeast Asia.

After receiving a red carpet welcome at the Presidential Palace, Abdullah held separate meetings with Vietnam's leadership troika of Communist Party head Nong Duc Manh, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President Tran Duc Luong.

His visit was part of a "familiarisation" tour of Malaysia's fellow members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

"We Vietnamese have a tradition of selecting someone to be the first person to visit our country in the lunar new year," Khai told Abdullah before their meeting.

"We are very delighted that Malaysian prime minister is the first visitor to set foot on our soil this year," added the Vietnamese premier who is due to hold further talks with his opposite number in Kuala Lumpur in March.

Multi-faceted cooperation

The Communist Party's mouthpiece, the Nhan Dan newspaper, today said that Abdullah's visit would "contribute to developing the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries".

After his meetings, Abdullah, who took over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Oct 31, left for Cambodia to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Malaysia reached US$1.36 billion in 2003 compared with US$474 million in 1996, according to Vietnamese trade figures.

Malaysia is a popular destination for Vietnamese labourers. Since April 2002, nearly 70,000 Vietnamese have travelled there on guest worker schemes.

Abdullah's visits are part of a traditional tour of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries for newly installed regional leaders. - AFP