Participants in the Vietnam-Indonesia trade, tourism and invesment promotion forum in Da Nang city (Photo: laodong.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – A forum has been held in the centralcity of Da Nang to seek ways to bolster trade, investment and tourism linksbetween Vietnam and Indonesia.
The two countries set up the strategicpartnership in June 2013.
Indonesia is currently the fourth biggest tradepartner of Vietnam in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It isalso known as an open market with great attractiveness to Vietnamese businesses.
Addressing the forum on August 5, Vice Chairmanof the Da Nang People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh said over the past years, the cityhas issued preferential policies and mechanisms to attract investment, promotetrade and expand economic exchange with foreign partners. As a result, it hasobtained considerable achievements, including the continuously improvedinvestment climate and competitiveness.
Da Nang has topped the central and CentralHighlands regions in terms of trading activities. In 2018, it recorded 1.6billion USD in exports and 1.4 billion USD in imports, respectively growing12.2 percent and 8.6 percent annually between 2011 and 2018.
However, the city’s shipments to Indonesiaremain modest, about 300,000 USD each year, with handicrafts, rubber productsand toys as the main items. Meanwhile, the imports from the archipelago nation,mainly apparel materials, are about 3 million USD each year, according to theofficial.
Trading activities between Da Nang and Indonesiahave yet to match potential, Minh said, highlighting the need to increasetrade, tourism and investment promotion between the two sides’ businesses.
At the event, Indonesian Ambassador Ibnu Hadi said Vietnam isa key market of his country, which has had 33 businesses operating here.Particularly, Vietnam, including Da Nang, has become an increasingly populardestination for Indonesian tourists.
Two direct air routes have been launched to connect the twocountries, creating good chances for tourism enhancement, he said, voicing hishope for stronger cooperation in this field so as to raise the number ofIndonesian visitors to Vietnam to 100,000 and attract a similar number ofVietnamese tourists to his country.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism,nearly 75,700 Vietnamese visited Indonesia in 2018, accounting for less than 1percent of the travellers making overseas trips. Meanwhile, over 87,900Indonesians chose Vietnam as their holiday destination. -VNA
VNA
