The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (VCCI) said even though two-way trade reached 4 billion USD in2013 and 1.52 billion USD during the first seven months of this year,the figure accounted for only 0.5 percent of Russia ’s total foreigntrade turnover.
VCCI added that while Vietnam ’sexports to Russia increased during recent years, they lack diversityand the application of advanced technology. Meanwhile, domesticcompanies have failed to make use of technologies transferred from othercountries, including Russia .
It is hoped thatthe free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union ofBelarus, Kazakhstan and Russia will help Vietnam and Russiaachieve the target of 7 billion USD in bilateral trade by the end of2015, and 10 billion USD by 2020.
VCCI GeneralSecretary Pham Thi Thu Hang said in order to achieve these objectives,the two Governments should support their business circles, particularlycompanies that use cutting-edge technologies and innovations, to step uptheir efforts to boost exports.
Nguyen Van Nam, anexecutive of the Leading Performance Vietnam company, said Russia ishighly developed in the fields of energy, science and technology, whichare Vietnam ’s weaknesses.
The meeting would helpVietnamese firms learn more about their Russian partners and seekcooperation opportunities to expand markets and improve theirtechnological capabilities, he added.
StrozaevaLubov Viktorovna, head of the “Russia-Vietnam: New Economies” project,said strengthening technological cooperation would contribute to the twocountries’ strategic partnership.
She also askedVietnam to work with Russia to organise an international conferencein 2015 to explore cooperation prospects between high-tech businesses,especially small- and medium-sized enterprises.-VNA