Saudi Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Alkhorayef met with senior Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Monday, days after a similar trip to China, as the oil-rich Gulf kingdom deepens its eastward push to diversify economic ties.

What happened: Alkhorayef arrived in Hanoi on Sunday at the head of a delegation from the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources as Saudi Arabia works to expand economic partnerships with Southeast Asian nations in line with its Vision 2030, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

On Monday, the Saudi minister met with Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien to review ways to strengthen economic relations between Saudi Arabia and Vietnam and to promote mutual investment opportunities in advanced industrial sectors, SPA reported.

The talks also focused on the prospects for boosting industrial cooperation between the two countries and developing joint investments in strategic sectors, such as the automotive, food, metallurgical and semiconductor industries. They also discussed opportunities for exchanging expertise, transferring technology and developing human capacity in these sectors, according to the SPA.