The first ever Vietnam-Latin America trade and investment forum atministerial level, which opened in Hanoi on July 5, is expected to helpbring relations to a new level and on a par with their long-lastingtraditional political ties.
On the occasion, ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh wrote an article highlighting joint efforts toheighten Vietnamese-Latin American relations.
Vietnamand most of Latin America enjoy a fine friendship and solidarity,especially as many, like Vietnam , have had to fight for theirnational liberation.
The Cuban revolutionary and culturistJose Marti, mentioned Vietnam’s tradition of fighting off aggressors inhis short story, ‘A journey through the land of Annamese,’ published inthe US magazine ‘Golden Years,’ in 1889. Cuban leader Fidel Castrocalled him the first Cuban and Latin American to discover Vietnam .
VietnamesePresident Ho Chi Minh, during his journey for national salvation,visited the Caribbean island of Martinique and Uruguay andArgentina in 1912. It was him who started the solidarity, friendshipand cooperation between Vietnam and Latin American countries.
Vietnam first set up diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1960, Chile in1971 and Argentina in 1973, while the country was still at war.
After its great victory in 1975, diplomatic-political ties betweenVietnam and countries in Latin America expanded at a great rate.
SinceVietnam started its renewal process in 1986, its relationship withLatin American countries entered a new phase, which was stronger andmore comprehensive.
The Southeast Asian country has to dateset up diplomatic ties with 27 Latin American nations and establishedinter-governmental cooperation committees with five countries andpolitical consultation mechanisms with 15.
Over the lastdecade, senior Vietnamese leaders have made nine visits to LatinAmerican countries and 10 Latin American leaders have visited Vietnam. Vietnam has seven embassies in the Latin American region whileeight countries from the region have embassies in Hanoi .
Theever increasing political friendship between Vietnam and LatinAmerican countries has created a premise and firm foundation for theexpansion and enhancement of multi-faceted cooperation, especially intrade and investment.
Two-way trade has experienced a highgrowth rate of approximately 30 percent per year, up from 300 millionUSD from 2005 to 5.1 billion USD in 2011, a 17 fold increase.
Thevalue of Vietnam’s trade with each of Latin America’s three largesteconomies, namely Brazil , Mexico and Argentina, exceeded 1billion USD.
The Southeast Asian country has alsocommitted investment capital of 7 billion USD to the Latin Americanregion, focusing on energy and telecommunications.
Accordingto FM Minh, despite the rapid growth, economic, trade and investmentrelations between Vietnam and Latin America are still modest and yetto match their full potential. Vietnam has only established trade andinvestment ties with several Latin American partners, while the levelof Latin American investment in Vietnam is far below the investors’potential.
However, the FM said he believes that the futureis bright for cooperation between Vietnam and Latin America , takinginto account the strong political will of both sides.
Thereis still a huge untapped economic potential and Latin Americancountries are keen to develop cooperation with Vietnam in the fieldsthey are strong in. These include the oil, gas and mining industries,traditional and renewable energies, infrastructure development,pharmaceuticals and farm produce and food processing. Meanwhile,Vietnamese enterprises can take advantage of their strength in riceproduction, fisheries, electronic appliances, agricultural machinery,telecommunications, ship building and car and motorcycle assembly andmanufacture.
The international economic and politicalsituation in the future is also expected to be favorable for furtherdevelopment between Vietnam and Latin America .
EastAsia and Latin America continue to maintain peace and stability andfaster economic growth rates when compared to the global rate and thisencourages potential overseas partners to approach them.
Added to this, inter-regional cooperation mechanisms, including theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Forum for East Asian-LatinAmerican Cooperation (FEALAC) and ASEAN-MERCOSUR, will offer moreopportunities for countries in the two regions to connect with eachother.
In this context, the Vietnamese-Latin AmericanTrade and Investment Forum will enable both Vietnamese and LatinAmerican partners to strengthen their mutual understanding, discuss waysof increasing trade and investment relations and draw up specificcooperative mechanisms and agreements.-VNA
On the occasion, ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh wrote an article highlighting joint efforts toheighten Vietnamese-Latin American relations.
Vietnamand most of Latin America enjoy a fine friendship and solidarity,especially as many, like Vietnam , have had to fight for theirnational liberation.
The Cuban revolutionary and culturistJose Marti, mentioned Vietnam’s tradition of fighting off aggressors inhis short story, ‘A journey through the land of Annamese,’ published inthe US magazine ‘Golden Years,’ in 1889. Cuban leader Fidel Castrocalled him the first Cuban and Latin American to discover Vietnam .
VietnamesePresident Ho Chi Minh, during his journey for national salvation,visited the Caribbean island of Martinique and Uruguay andArgentina in 1912. It was him who started the solidarity, friendshipand cooperation between Vietnam and Latin American countries.
Vietnam first set up diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1960, Chile in1971 and Argentina in 1973, while the country was still at war.
After its great victory in 1975, diplomatic-political ties betweenVietnam and countries in Latin America expanded at a great rate.
SinceVietnam started its renewal process in 1986, its relationship withLatin American countries entered a new phase, which was stronger andmore comprehensive.
The Southeast Asian country has to dateset up diplomatic ties with 27 Latin American nations and establishedinter-governmental cooperation committees with five countries andpolitical consultation mechanisms with 15.
Over the lastdecade, senior Vietnamese leaders have made nine visits to LatinAmerican countries and 10 Latin American leaders have visited Vietnam. Vietnam has seven embassies in the Latin American region whileeight countries from the region have embassies in Hanoi .
Theever increasing political friendship between Vietnam and LatinAmerican countries has created a premise and firm foundation for theexpansion and enhancement of multi-faceted cooperation, especially intrade and investment.
Two-way trade has experienced a highgrowth rate of approximately 30 percent per year, up from 300 millionUSD from 2005 to 5.1 billion USD in 2011, a 17 fold increase.
Thevalue of Vietnam’s trade with each of Latin America’s three largesteconomies, namely Brazil , Mexico and Argentina, exceeded 1billion USD.
The Southeast Asian country has alsocommitted investment capital of 7 billion USD to the Latin Americanregion, focusing on energy and telecommunications.
Accordingto FM Minh, despite the rapid growth, economic, trade and investmentrelations between Vietnam and Latin America are still modest and yetto match their full potential. Vietnam has only established trade andinvestment ties with several Latin American partners, while the levelof Latin American investment in Vietnam is far below the investors’potential.
However, the FM said he believes that the futureis bright for cooperation between Vietnam and Latin America , takinginto account the strong political will of both sides.
Thereis still a huge untapped economic potential and Latin Americancountries are keen to develop cooperation with Vietnam in the fieldsthey are strong in. These include the oil, gas and mining industries,traditional and renewable energies, infrastructure development,pharmaceuticals and farm produce and food processing. Meanwhile,Vietnamese enterprises can take advantage of their strength in riceproduction, fisheries, electronic appliances, agricultural machinery,telecommunications, ship building and car and motorcycle assembly andmanufacture.
The international economic and politicalsituation in the future is also expected to be favorable for furtherdevelopment between Vietnam and Latin America .
EastAsia and Latin America continue to maintain peace and stability andfaster economic growth rates when compared to the global rate and thisencourages potential overseas partners to approach them.
Added to this, inter-regional cooperation mechanisms, including theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Forum for East Asian-LatinAmerican Cooperation (FEALAC) and ASEAN-MERCOSUR, will offer moreopportunities for countries in the two regions to connect with eachother.
In this context, the Vietnamese-Latin AmericanTrade and Investment Forum will enable both Vietnamese and LatinAmerican partners to strengthen their mutual understanding, discuss waysof increasing trade and investment relations and draw up specificcooperative mechanisms and agreements.-VNA
