PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hosted an official luncheon at the Seri Perdana complex in honour of To Lam, the visiting General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Lam, on a three-day official visit, arrived at the prime minister’s official residence at 1:35 pm.
Apart from Lam’s delegation, the luncheon was also attended by his spouse Ngo Phuong Ly and the Prime Minister’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Earlier, Lam and Anwar held a meeting to strengthen bilateral relations and witness the exchange of the Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Trade Promotion between the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE); and the Memorandum of Collaboration between PETRONAS and PETROVIETNAM in the field of renewable energy.
During his visit, Lam is also scheduled to meet with the Senate President Senator Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah, and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Dr Johari Abdul at Parliament.
The last time Malaysia received a visit from the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam was in March 1994, a year before Vietnam’s formal accession to ASEAN.