HANOI, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing visits Vietnam on Friday with meetings that include top telecommunications, defence and auto companies as the two countries seek to boost economic ties.
Vietnam will be the seventh country that Min Aung Hlaing – the former leader of the junta that ruled Myanmar for five years – has visited as he seeks greater legitimacy and regional re-engagement.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations bars Myanmar’s political representatives from its summits, saying it has failed to implement the regional group’s peace plan to end a civil war sparked by the junta’s 2021 coup.
On the first day of his three-day visit, Min Aung Hlaing is expected to meet executives of Viettel, a telecommunications and defence corporation owned by Vietnam’s defence ministry, said two people briefed on the matter.
Viettel has telecoms operations in Myanmar. Its defence unit produces drones and other military equipment that could be discussed during the visit, one of the people said.
Myanmar’s embassy in Vietnam, Viettel and the Vietnamese government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Also on Friday, Min Aung Hlaing is scheduled to visit a factory in northern Vietnam producing VinFast electric vehicles, a VinFast spokesperson said. VinFast has targeted Asian countries for its international expansion and set up car assembly plants in Indonesia and India.
Myanmar and Vietnam should strengthen political and economic cooperation in the near future, Vietnam’s ambassador to Myanmar, Nguyen Anh Duc, told the foreign ministry newspaper ahead of the visit. He said economic sectors to prioritise in bilateral cooperation included telecoms, EV manufacturing, agriculture and essential consumer goods.
Min Aung Hlaing will meet Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, during his visit and will attend a business forum, according to Myanmar state media.
The two are expected to sign non-binding cooperation agreements, including on fighting crime and promoting investment, said one person briefed on the matter.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Phuong Nguyen; Writing by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by William Mallard)
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