Dr Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), recently met with Mr Washington Burghi, Chairman of the Uruguay Chamber of Industry and Mr Julio César Lestido, Deputy Chairman of the Uruguay Chamber of Industry. The meeting was aimed to provide information about the business environment and economic situation of the two countries in order to further promote business cooperation.
According to the VCCI, friendly relations between Vietnam and Uruguay have been growing well, however, economic and trade relations have been shy of their potential; no agreement has been signed and the number of exchange visits between the two sides is small. Only in recent years, have the two countries begun to establish business contact.
According to the statistics of the General Department of Customs, Vietnam-Uruguay trade relations development is still humble and Uruguay always has a trade surplus. Two-way trade in 2007 was valued at US$27 million, and in 2010 US$ 64.62 million. In 2011 the figure grew to nearly US$75 million. In the first 8 months of 2012, export turnover reached US$45.215 million, of which Vietnam exported more than US$15.253 million and imported US$ 29.962 million.
Major export items of Vietnam include sports shoes, clothing, synthetic fibers, suitcases, bags, handicrafts, and coconut. Vietnam imports from Uruguay beef, leather, timber, wool, milk, squid, animal by-products, and pharmaceuticals...
According to the evaluation, Vietnam and Uruguay have considerable potential for cooperation in the fields of animal husbandry, processing and export of agricultural and fishery products, biotechnology, telecommunications, energy, information technology, banking services, seaports, rice production, water filters, paper, food hygiene and safety management. Vietnam may export some light industrial products and household electrical appliances to Uruguay and through Uruguay, Vietnamese goods can enter the Common Market of South America-Mercosur.
Regarding investment, Uruguay has 1 FDI project worth US$100,000 in Vietnam, ranking 90th out of 93 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
According to the VCCI, now Vietnam and Uruguay have realized their potential to cooperate and complement each other, especially in the fields of animal husbandry, agriculture, forestry, biotechnology, culture, sports ... However, geographic distance, lack of information, and trade relations facing many indirect stages through third countries, led to the difficulty in promotion of trade and investment between the two countries.
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