Of the figure, Vietnam’s exports to South Africareached 815 million USD and imports were 147 million USD, said VietnamTrade Counselor Nguyen Hong Tien.
Two-way trade between the twocountries experienced remarkable features, Tien said, adding that coffeeand footwear were up 71 percent and 7 percent, accounting for 18percent and 12.5 percent of the market shares, respectively.
Meanwhile, the import of scrap steel from South Africa saw a 38 percent decrease due to Vietnam’s sluggish property market.
Tiensaid the economic development forecast for both countries in 2015 ispositive. The Vietnamese Government has set a goal for a GDP growth rateof 6.2 percent against the last year’s figure of 5.98 percent. SouthAfrica has predicted a growth rate of 2.6 percent, nearly doubling2013’s figure.
According to the Vietnamese official, theVietnamese Government’s attention to enhancing ties with Africa,including South Africa, and the acceleration of diplomatic and tradepromotion activities in 2015 will create favourable conditions forboosting bilateral trade between the two countries.
However, he pointed out a number of difficulties in payment and transportation between the two countries, hindering trade.
Furthermore,Vietnamese enterprises have not paid sufficient attention to promisingmarkets in Africa, including South Africa, such as making fact-findingtours or joining fairs and exhibitions.
According to the TradeOffice at the Vietnamese Embassy to South Africa cum Mozambique,Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, last year two-waytrade turnover between Vietnam and the African countries reached 92.9million USD, 34.7 million USD, 26.4 million USD, 21.1 million USD, 14.7million USD, and 12.3 million USD, respectively.
Cooperativeprospects between Vietnam and the countries are huge as they are in highdemand for importing Vietnam’s key export products, especially rice,Tien said.
South Africa will act as a gateway for improved relations with other African countries, he added.-VNA