Vietnam-Byelorussia Business Forum: Open Dialogue, Active Co-operation
Enterprises accompanying Byelorussian Prime Minister S. S. Sidorski’s visit to Vietnam attended the Vietnam-Byelorussia Business Forum with more than 100 enterprises of Vietnam in Hanoi on November 9. Byelorussian enterprises attending the meeting are in four main industries of Byelorussia, namely automobile, petro-chemical industry, high-tech, food processing, and some other industries. At the forum, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Byelorussia Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a co-operation agreement.
Addressing the forum, the Byelorussian prime minister said that the Vietnam-Byelorussia relations were marked with political dialogues via regular meetings between leaders of the two countries. He went on to say that Byelorussia paid special attention to relations with Vietnam in economics, military technology, science and technology, and education.
With great advantages in mechanics, engineering, metallurgy and electronics, Byelorussian enterprises said they wished to promote co-operation with Vietnamese partners to boost export and technology transfer. At present, among countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and developed countries in the world, Byelorussia is one of the countries which manufactures and changes designs of automobiles most. Factories in Byelorussia can manufacture more than 500 samples of automobiles on demand, meeting all requirements for loads, terrains and other technical requirements. So can the engineering industry. Alongside implementing traditional orders of machines for the agricultural and public sectors, Byelorussia manufactures sample machines with hanging equipments used in different industries. Prime Minister S. S. Sidorski said that his country was willing to set up joint ventures or co-operate with Vietnamese partners in technology transfer. So far, some Byelorussian giant manufacturers have co-operated with Vietnamese partners. These include the Minsk Automobile Factory (MAZ), the Minsk Motor Factory (MMZ) with VIEM of Vietnam, MTZ with the Mekong Corporation of Vietnam, P/o Integral with Holding IMI, and SDS Company of Vietnam. The Byelorussian prime minister went on to say that leaders of these companies and other famous Byelorussian companies, namely Belnheptexkhim (State-owned Company operating in the petroleum and petro-chemical industries), Goscomvoenprom (manufacturing products for civil and military use), joined the forum and got ready to co-operate with Vietnamese partners.
Trade exchange turnover between the two countries reached US$21.3 million in the first half of this year, up by 21 per cent against that of the same period last year. Of this figure, Vietnam’s export value was put at US$2.9 million. Byelorussia has great advantage in industrial equipment, trucks, diesel engines, artificial and chemical threads, potassium and nitrogenous fertiliser, medicines, details for electronics, oil exploitation, information technology, nano technology and biology. Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises have great advantages in rice, tea, coffee, farm-produce, processed seafood, footwear and natural rubber.
Chau Hue Cam, deputy minister of industry, said that the import turnover of heavy trucks for coal mining in Vietnam had reached US$13 million since 2001 and would continue to increase in the coming year. Now, the Vietnam Coal Corporation and the Bela Company of Byelorussia are implementing a project on assembly of heavy trucks in Vietnam. In electronics, the IMI Company of Vietnam is co-operating with Byelorussia to set up a joint venture to manufacture ICs in Vietnam, which has received one third of capital from the Vietnamese Government.
Via the forum, enterprises from the two countries have further understood the fields they were interested in. Initially, a Byelorussian tractor manufacturing joint venture signed a contract with the Mekong Corporation of Vietnam.
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