Vietnam, Kuwait sign cooperation pacts

Vietnam and Kuwait has clinched three cooperation deals during a visit to the Middle East country by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Reports said Dung and his Kuwaiti counterpart Nasser al-Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah witnessed the signing of a double taxation avoidance agreement, a cooperation agreement between Vietnam’s State Capital Investment Corp. and the Kuwait Investment Authority, and an agreement on agricultural cooperation between the two nations. Justin Wood, director of the Corporate Network and Southeast Asia expert at the Economist Intelligence Unit, who also co-chaired the roundtable, pointed out the uncertainties ahead for the local economy. With the abundant future supply, the company projected the monthly grade B office rent to go down to US$20 to 25 per sq m and the grade C could reach US$10 to 15. Pacific Healthcare Holdings Ltd., one of Singapore’s leading providers of specialist health care services, has tapped the local health care market with the opening of a representative office in HCM City last week. Around 30,000 patients visit foreign countries for treatment every year, including Singapore, Thailand, China and some western countries. (March 21, 2009)