Vietnam seeks Saudi Aramco's investment in petrochemicals, oil refining

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam is seeking investment from oil giant Saudi Aramco in its petrochemical and oil refinery projects, the Southeast Asian country's government said.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Thursday met with Aramco's Yasser M. Mufti, its vice president of production and customers, on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian and Gulf countries in Riyadh.

Chinh suggested arranging a meeting between Aramco and Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam to discuss details of the investment projects, a government statement released late on Thursday said.

"Aramco is interested in exploring opportunities to invest in Vietnam, particularly in petrochemical and refinery projects," the statement said.

Saudi Aramco declined to comment.

The company has been selling crude oil to Vietnam, but has yet to make any investment in the country, according to the government statement.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Martin Petty and Jane Merriman)