Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) isready to work with Argentine Ambassador to Vietnam Luis Pablo Maria Beltraminoto boost economic, trade, and investment ties between the two nations, DeputyMinister Do Thang Hai has said.
During a working session with the ambassador who has just started his tenure in Vietnam, Haiexpressed his delight at the stable growth in two-way trade over recent years,which reached 3.95 billion USD last year, up 4.3 percent compared to 2019 despiteCOVID-19.
As Argentina is now Vietnam’s third-largest trade partner in LatinAmerica, behind Brazil and Mexico, he hoped that the ambassador and theArgentine embassy will continue working to facilitate trade exchange betweenthe two countries’ business communities, towards gradually achieving a morebalanced trade landscape.
The ambassador, for his part, expressed a belief that with improvingbusiness climates in both nations, businesses will be well-positioned toprosper.
He pledged to do his best to tackle problems in two-way trade as well asfacilitate multi-sector exchanges between the two countries.
Both sides also agreed to hold the seventh meeting of theInter-Governmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific-TechnologicalCooperation this year.
Figures show that Vietnam’s exports to the Latin American country hit567 million USD last year, up 2.34 percent, while imports rose 4.64 percent to 3.38billion USD.
Vietnam’s exports were mostly mobile phones and spare parts, computers,electronics and accessories, footwear, machinery, equipment and othersupporting tools, apparel, and footwear materials. The country imported animalfeed, corn, cotton, soya, and vegetable oils from Argentina.
According to MoIT, two-way trade hit 440 million USD this year as of lateFebruary, down 3.22 percent year-on-year. Of this, 174 million USD wasVietnam’s exports to Argentina, up 164.52 percent year-on-year, while importswere down 31.61 percent./.
