[3] Since 2008, the two countries have witnessed new developments in various fields, including politics, economics, culture and society, particularly in the oil and gas industry.

[4] Vietnamese President Nguyễn Minh Triết arrived in Caracas on 18 November 2008 for a two-day official visit on an invitation from Chavez.

[5] Triết hailed Vietnam's friendship with Venezuela as he sought to focus on tying up oil and gas deals, including a joint development fund.

Petroleos de Venezuela and PetroVietnam also announced a number of joint projects since the 2006 visit, including when PetroVietnam's was given a concession in the Orinoco basin and an agreement to transport Venezuelan oil to Vietnam, where the two would together build an oil refinery that Vietnam lacks.

On the 2008 visit, Triết returned similar comments as he lauded a group of Venezuelans who captured a US soldier during the Vietnam war in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the execution of a Vietnamese revolutionary.