Promoting trade relations between Vietnam and Burkina Faso is the main discussion during the meeting between Dr Doan Duy Khuong, Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Mr Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo, Ambassador of Republic of Burkina Faso in India, on the occasion of his working visit to Vietnam.
During the meeting, Mr Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo announced the upcoming visit of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts of Burkina Faso, accompanied by 20 Burkina Faso businesses who wish to do market research and establish business contacts with Vietnamese businesses. The businesses from Burkina Faso are mainly engaged in the fields of rice and agricultural machinery imports, agricultural products processing, exporting products such as sesame and almonds.
In addition, Mr Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo also informed about the Africalia Forum scheduled to be held in Burkina Faso in February 2014 which expects to draw the attendance of nine West African countries. He expressed the desire that VCCI would send a business delegate to attend the event.
Burkina Faso and Vietnam established diplomatic relations on 16 November 1973. Currently, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Kingdom of Morocco is responsible for representation to the Republic of Burkina Faso. The Republic of Burkina Faso Embassy in India is responsible for representation to Vietnam.
So far, the two countries have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in economic, trade, culture and science and engineering in 1996; Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture of Burkina Faso and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam; the Protocols between the two Foreign Ministries; tripartite agreement between Vietnam, France and Burkina Faso on technology exchange and capacity in 2004; tripartite agreement between Vietnam, France and Burkina Faso on transferring press - extrusion technology against child malnutrition in 2005, and MOU on cooperation between the two Chambers of Commerce and Industry in August 2010.
According to statistics, trade between the two countries is modest, reaching its highest level in 2010 of US$21.2 million, of which Vietnam exported US$ 6.3 million, mainly textiles and imported US$14.9 million, mainly cotton. In 2012, exports and imports decreased to US$18.3 million, of which Vietnam exported nearly US$1 million and imported US$17.3 million. Vietnam’s exports are mainly components of motorcycle parts, plastic products, textiles, vegetables, pharmaceuticals and imports goods are mainly cotton and cashew.
In the first 3 months of 2013, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Burkina Faso reached US$5.6 million. The structure of imports and exports has not changed much compared to 2012.
Burkina Faso's economy in recent years has a good growth rate, approximately 5 percent. Two spearheads of the economy are exporting cotton and gold mining.
Main agricultural products are millet, maize, rice, cotton. Since 2009, gold has become the no.1 export product by Burkina Faso due to difficulty in the cotton sector. Particularly in 2011, gold accounted for 55 percent of total export value of the country. Previously, cotton exports accounted for 60 percent of export earnings. However, cotton is the most important crop of Burkina Faso, which feeds directly or indirectly about 3 million people in this country and contributes 25 percent of GDP. Burkina Faso is the leading cotton producer of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). In the past 3 years, the government of Burkina Faso has spent about US$63 million on this important industry.
In 2012, Burkina Faso's GDP reached US$10.27 billion, the GDP per capita was US$576, an increase of 7 percent. The inflation rate was 4.5 percent. In the structure of the economy, agriculture accounted for 34.4 percent, industry 23.4 percent and services 42.2 percent.
Burkina Faso’s main export partners are China (21 percent), Turkey (16.9 percent), Singapore (8.4 percent), Indonesia (6.6 percent), Thailand (4.9 percent) and Malaysia (4.3 percent). Its import partners include the Ivory Coast (16.7 percent), France (15.2 percent), Ghana (5 percent), Togo (4.7 percent) and Belgium (4.2 percent).
Currently, Burkina Faso is pushing an open door policy, focusing capital and technology in agricultural development towards self- sufficiency in food. Even so, each year it has to import 150,000 tons of rice to meet domestic demand. Besides promoting regional cooperation in West Africa and in addition to the traditional trading partners such as France, China, India, Singapore and Thailand, Burkina Faso is seeking to expand relations with the monetary financial institutions and other international countries, including Vietnam.
Anh Mai
Vietnamese
