DUBAI, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Emirates Airlines inked here on Wednesday with Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to boost tourism and trade, the carrier said in a statement.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, is currently visiting the UAE with a delegation.

Emirates Airlines signed three MoUs to facilitate tourism and trade in Vietnam's largest and most visited city, said the Dubai government-controlled airline.

"Vietnam is a very important destination within Emirates' network," Badr Abbas, Emirates' senior vice president of Commercial Operations for the Far East said. "Since we launched our service to Ho Chi Minh City in 2012, Emirates has carried more than 1.25 million passengers on the route."

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council's report, the total contribution by Vietnam's tourism sector to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was 20.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, accounting for 9.4 percent of the total GDP.