Companies of Vietnam and Latin American countries seek partnership chances at at business matching event of Vietnam International Sourcing 2023. (Photo: VNA)Over the past years, trade andinvestment relations between Vietnam and Latin America have continuallydeveloped and expanded, said Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the MoIT’s European -American Market Department, at the event, held in Ho Chi Minh City from September13 to 15.
He cited statistics showing thatbilateral trade doubled to 23 billion USD in 2022 from 14.2 billion USD in2018. It stood at 13.4 billion USD in the first eight months of 2023, down 14% froma year earlier.
Despite the fall during January - August, it is encouraging that the decline has recently slowed down compared tothe first months of the year. Particularly, the eight-month trade with somemarkets has posted year-on-year increases, signalling the recovery of Vietnam - Latin America trade, he went on.
Notably, aside from the biggestLatin American markets like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile,many others in the region such as Panama, Colombia, and Peru have also recordedimpressive growth in trade with the Southeast Asian nation in recent years.
Considering Vietnam’s traderelations, Latin America is always one of the most important markets, Linhsaid. He added that it is not only a potential importer of Vietnam’s strongproducts such as textiles-garments, leather-footwear, farm produce andfisheries products, but also a supplier of important materials like corn, soyabean, and animal feed for the country’s manufacturing industries.
A representative of the VietnameseTrade Counsellor in Chile said the Vietnam - Chile Free Trade Agreement and theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), have provided mechanisms for Vietnam to step upexporting goods, including many entitled to zero tariffs, to Chile.
Chile is currently the third largestdestination of Vietnamese goods in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico, therepresentative said.
Businesses showcase products at Vietnam International Sourcing 2023. (Photo: VNA)In 2022, bilateral trade rose 6.5%year on year to 6.78 billion USD. That consisted of 2.24 billion USD in Vietnam’sexports to Brazil, down 1.3%, and 4.55 billion USD in imports, up 10.8%.
The trade turnover reached 3.86billion USD during the first seven months of 2023, down 7.5% from a yearearlier, comprising 1.47 billion USD in Vietnam’s exports (up 14%) and 2.39 billionUSD in imports (down 17.1%), data show.
Vietnam’s main exports to Brazilinclude mobile phones and components, computers, electronic devices andcomponents, machinery and spare parts, vehicles, steel, and footwear. Meanwhile,the Southeast Asian nations mainly imports ores and minerals, cotton, animalfeed and materials, soya bean, corn, timber and wood products, and garment andfootwear materials from the Latin American country, according to Prazeres.
Linh said there remains much roomfor Vietnamese enterprises to boost cooperation with Latin America, but theyneed to take methodological and professional steps.
They should identify potentialproducts for each market, work to meet quality standards, and distribute goodsvia retail networks of Latin American countries, he recommended.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, a representativeof the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association, noted that since 2024, someLatin American countries will begin enforcing regulations on imports of geneticallymodified products. This is a chance for producers and suppliers of clean farmproduce to grow shipments to Latin America./.
VNA
