On the occasion of a Slovak business delegation’s visit to Vietnam led by Deputy Minister of Economy of Slovakia to attend the 1st meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Vietnam-Slovakia recently held in Hanoi, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the Embassy of Slovakia in Vietnam, the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) held the Vietnam-Slovakia Business Forum. The forum is aimed at introducing the trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Slovakia in the past and prospects for future cooperation, thereby promoting business partnerships, import and export of domestic business having interest in the strong fields of Slovakia such as engineering, energy, food, construction, banking and so on.
Economic Bridge to the Market
Speaking at the Forum, Dr Doan Duy Khuong, VCCI Vice President, said that Vietnam and the Slovak Republic have a long tradition of friendship and established diplomatic relations over 60 years ago. With the advantage of similarities in economic structure, political stability, being attractive and dynamic markets in Asia and the EU, Vietnam and Slovakia have many opportunities to develop trade relations in both width and depth. In particular the cooperation between the two governments, public-private partnership and cooperation between the two business communities play a key role in this process.
Slovakia is a member of the European Union and Vietnam also became the 150th member of the WTO in 2007. With an open door policy and flexible economic mechanisms, Vietnam can be a good destination for Slovak goods to penetrate not only the Vietnamese market, but also other markets in the ASEAN region. Conversely, Slovakia will also be an important partner and a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter the EU and the former Soviet Union countries in the region.
Incommensurate trade and investment turnover
Dr Khuong said that despite the steady progress, Vietnam-Slovakia trade relations are still not commensurate with the potential and desire of both parties. Trade turnover between the two countries in 2012 reached just over US$300 million. (Very small compared to the total trade turnover in 2012 of the two countries: Vietnam about US$115 billion and Slovakia US$150 billion). Vietnam mainly exported to Slovakia electronic products & components, footwear and textiles worth US$290 million and imported about US$16 million.
As of 2012, Slovakia had five investment projects here with total registered capital of US$235 million ranking 31st out of 98 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. They include hotel-office complex project in Ho Chi Minh City; Lac Thinh-Hoa Binh Industrial Park construction project initiated in 2011.
Mr Pavol Pavlis, Deputy Minister of Economy of Slovakia assessed Vietnam as a preferential trade partner of Slovakia. According to Mr Pavol Pavlis, in foreign economic policy of the Government of Slovakia, enhancing trade cooperation and investment with countries in Southeast Asia is a key priority in the coming period and Vietnam is the biggest partner, with its continuous growth over the period of trade between the two countries in the context of the economic crisis. The Slovak Republic has strengths in the field of automotive and electrical engineering, in addition to a large potential in the export of energy fields, including mechanics for energy, mining, defence industry and building. Besides, a number of specific areas such as engineering machinery, energy, information technology and food processing are also strengths that Vietnamese enterprises have interest in.
The forum spent a lot of time for a direct exchange helping the two countries to better understand each other, contributing to the deep and sustainable cooperation.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
