MANILA (AFP) - Visiting Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday urged Philippine businessmen to expand economic ties to booming Vietnam.
Speaking through a translator before a joint gathering of Philippine and Vietnamese businessmen, Dung said foreign partners are an integral part of the economy.
"Vietnamese investment policies are now moving towards a more open economy," he said, remarking that economic reforms would "vigorously improve the institutions of the market economy."
He drew parallels between the Philippines and Vietnam, saying both countries were now enjoying robust growth despite recent economic problems.
Both countries also had a population of about 84 million with a "young and sizeable labor force ... dynamic and well-educated," he said.
Dung said there are 31 Philippine investment projects in Vietnam.
At the forum, Vietnamese vice minister of trade and industry Nguyen Thanh Bien said that two-way trade between the two countries had risen to 1.12 billion dollars in 2006.