At the seminar (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) –Vietnam and China see huge potential for cooperation in economy, trade andinvestment, experts said at a trade exchange and seminar between the two countriesheld in Ho Chi Minh City on May 23.
The event was co-organised bythe Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Ho Chi Minh City branch (VCCIHCM City) and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade.
VCCI HCM City Director Vo TanThanh said that Vietnam and China have good relations in numerous fields,especially in trade and investment. China is currently Vietnam’s biggest tradepartner, while Vietnam is China’s largest trader in ASEAN.
Two-way trade reached 93.6billion USD in 2017, up 30 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 22 percentof Vietnam’s total import-export turnover. Of the total, 35.4 billion USD camefrom Vietnam’s exports.
According to Thanh, Vietnamposted a trade deficit of 28 billion USD with China in 2016. The figure was downto 22.7 billion USD last year, a positive sign in improving the bilateral tradebalance.
Bilateral trade is forecastto exceed 100 billion USD this year, he stated.
In terms of investment,Chinese enterprises are intensifying investment in such fields as garments-textilesand mineral exploitation-processing in Vietnam. Last year, Chinese investorsrun 284 new projects and added capital to 83 existing projects in the SoutheastAsian nation with a total capital of over 12 billion USD.
Wen Xi Chen, EconomicCounselor at the Chinese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, shared thatChina has huge demand for aquatic products like basa fish and shrimp andagricultural products such as pepper, cashew nut and dragon fruit.
With its open trade policy,China welcomes foreign businesses, including those from Vietnam, to bring intofull play market opportunities to increase exports of high-value products tothe country, he said, adding that Chinese firms want to seek cooperationopportunities in garment and textiles, seafood and farm produce processing forexport.
The two countries can alsoboost collaboration in mineral exploitation and processing, finance andtourism, he added.
Meanwhile, Chinese expertsadvised Vietnamese enterprises to thoroughly learn about partners’ informationand market demand through trade representative offices to avoid unreliablepartners who can cause economic losses and affect the two countries’relations.-VNA
VNA
