RIYADH, April 9 (Saba) -- Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet will hold talks Saturday on prompting political and commercial cooperation, Chinese News Agency (Xinhua) reported on Friday.

The Vietnamese president is due to arrive Saturday in the Saudi capital, the first leg of a Middle East tour that will also take him to Tunisia and Algeria.

"King Abdullah and Triet will also witness the signing of two major agreements, which will go a long way in boosting links between Riyadh and Hanoi," the Saudi paper quoted Dao Thanh Chung, Vietnamese ambassador to the kingdom, as saying.

"Those two proposed agreements will be signed by the two governments during the president's visit" -- the first by Triet to the kingdom.

According to the diplomat, the first agreement is an anti- double taxation draft accord, while the other aims to boost cooperation in oil, gas and mineral sector.

Trade and investments relations are expected to figure high on the agenda of the Saudi-Vietnamese summit. Hanoi has planned to open a trade bureau in Saudi Arabia this year, the paper noted.

Trade volume between the oil-rich kingdom and the southeast Asian country exceeds 291 million U.S. dollars annually, with Vietnamese exports hitting 118 million dollars.
Saba