Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the Vietnam government is considering Petronas' interest to continue its production-sharing contract in Vietnam for another 10 years.

Petronas has been in Vietnam for 25 years.

Petronas' interest in continuing the production-sharing contract would benefit both Malaysia and Vietnam, Najib told a press conference with Malaysian reporters after an hour-long meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the sidelines of the summit in the Philippine capital city today.

Both leaders are here for the 30th Asean Summit.

Malaysia is one of the largest investors in Vietnam.

"This is very important to be decided, in view of some multinational companies having already ended their operations in Vietnam. But Petronas is still interested to continue investing in Vietnam," Najib said.

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), he said: "We agree that RCEP negotiations should be continued until it is finalised. Apart from that, 11 other TPP countries are discussing on the alternative to the TPP."

The prime minister said the commitment to expand bilateral trade to US$15 billion in 2020 from US$11 billion would also be discussed.

Plea for return of Simon Rock

Najib also appealed to the Vietnamese government to allow Europe Automobiles Corporation (EAC) chief operating officer Simon Rock to return to Malaysia.

EAC is a unit of Sime Darby Motors.

"It involves certain claims and banning chief operating officer Simon Rock from returning to Malaysia. He is a British national but works for a Malaysian company," Najib told reporters after his meeting with Nguyen.

"We have appealed to the prime minister of Vietnam to allow Simon to return to Malaysia so that he can be back with his family.

"At the same time, in whatever investigation undertaken by the Vietnamese authorities, he (Simon Rock) will give his full cooperation," Najib added.

- Bernama