Vietnam - Peru Cooperation: Open Potentiality

Vietnam and Peru formally established friendly relations in 1994. In the past 20 years, the bilateral relationship has kept thriving. In recent years, despite many difficulties, the two-way trade turnover reached a stable US$100 million a year. In investment, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and military-run telecom firm Viettel have invested in Peru, a market with 31 million people. As of early 2014, Viettel Group invested nearly US$500 million in the Peruvian market. The initial successes of these two pioneering corporations are expected to pave the way for other Vietnamese firms to explore potential opportunities in the Peruvian market. Peru’s AJE Group also invested in the Vietnamese beverage market with Big Cola products manufactured in southern Binh Duong province.

 

Luis Tsuboyama, Interim Representative of the Embassy of Peru in Vietnam, said Peru is a high and stable growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, its regulatory framework is very beneficial for foreign investors as it is non-discriminatory to investors (Investors are free to transfer shares and compete, are guaranteed of personal properties, and free to purchase bonds and stocks from local companies, etc.). Currently, Peru is attempting to become a globalised economy by giving priority to accessing the biggest markets in the world with trade agreements. The country is calling investment and commercial cooperation in potential sectors such as agriculture, garment - textile, chemical, materials, construction products, software services, and mining. He said, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), expected to be concluded soon, is hoped to generate economic benefits for both Vietnam and Peru. This is possibly an important leverage to boost the two-way economic cooperation which is more comprehensive and deeper. Seizing this opportunity, Peru will launch many important plans to tighten the bilateral relations, especially in economic, trade and investment fields, with Vietnam. Hopefully, we will receive the active cooperation from Vietnamese ministries and agencies to provide information on investment policies and markets for companies of both sides to explore economic potential more effectively.”

 

Nguyen The Hung, Deputy Director of VCCI - HCM, said although the trade exchange between Vietnam and Peru is growing steadily, its true potential has yet to be tapped because of geographical distance, lack of information on markets and partners, and weak investment resources. So, in the coming time, Vietnam and Peru should bolster cooperation in some areas of mutual interest such as agriculture, fisheries, materials, construction products, software services and mining. And, the business communities of the two countries are the vanguard forces to realise the goal of boosting bilateral trade turnover.

 

He added, "VCCI also signed many cooperation agreements with the Peru National Chamber of Commerce. Many cooperation agreements on economy, trade, customs, agriculture, fisheries, science and technology have been signed by ministries and agencies of the both nations. These documents help form cooperation networks of both sides to support Vietnamese businesses to penetrate more deeply into the Peruvian market and vice versa."