RIYADH: Saudi and Vietnamese business leaders from more than 40 companies met in Riyadh to discuss ways to increase their already flourishing health trade exchange volume, which stands at SR8.2 billion ($2.2bn). The Saudi-Vietnamese Business Forum, held at the Federation of Saudi Chambers, saw the representatives of 21 Saudi companies and 20 from Vietnam discussing how to benefit from the opportunities provided by the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Vice-chairman of the Saudi Regional Business Council for Southeast Asian Countries Abdulghani Al-Rumaih praised the Saudi-Vietnamese Joint Committee and its reflection on the volume of trade exchange, which amounted to about SR8.2 billion in 2021, Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Arabia is a major market for the South-East Asian country and one of Vietnam’s important partners in the Middle East and Africa region. The Saudi-Vietnamese Joint Committee was launched in 2006 and it aims to discuss ways of cooperation in many areas that contribute to the development of the two countries. Vietnam is among the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia, with an average gross domestic product growth of between 6 and 7 percent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting comes in line with recent efforts by Saudi Arabia to increase linkages with international markets through establishing new bilateral organizations, as well as holding forums and meetings with countries including Finland, India, Uzbekistan, Thailand, France, Indonesia and Spain. Speaking to Arab News earlier this year, Saad Al-Shahrani, the acting deputy minister for investment promotion in the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia, said the Kingdom achieved an 18 percent increase in foreign direct investment in 2020, even as the global FDI declined by 35 percent due to the pandemic. Saudi Arabia has enacted over 600 economic reforms since the launch of the Vision 2030 blueprint in a bid to attract SR12.4 trillion of cumulative investment and SR1.8 trillion in foreign direct investment inflows between 2021 and 2030 as part of the National Investment Strategy.