During the visit to Vietnam of Bulgarian Government Delegation led by Mr Tsvetan Dimitrov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ho Chi Minh City Branch (VCCI-HCM) cooperated with the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) and Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) to organise the Vietnam-Bulgaria Trade and Business Forum. The forum aimed to provide opportunity to exchange and share, towards establishing business cooperation between business communities of Vietnam and Bulgaria, thereby contributing to further strengthening the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
At the opening ceremony, Mr Nguyen The Hung, VCCI-HCM’s Deputy Director, expressed delight at the growing traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria. The two countries’ regular high-level visit exchanges have contributed significantly to the cooperation ties between the two sides in all fields, especially in trade and investment. Regarding economic cooperation, Vietnam and Bulgaria are determined to implement the "new economic cooperation model", as seen in many practical cooperation activities such as Prista Oil’s cooperation with PetroVietnam on waste oil recycling; Bulgatabak’s cooperation with Vinataba to produce cigarettes for sale to third countries; and Sopharma pharmaceuticals cooperation with Vimadimex. In 2006, trade between the two countries reached only US$18.5 million, in 2014 this figure rose to over US$87 million and in the first 8 months of 2015, the trade volume reached US$52 million.
Regarding investment cooperation, by September 2015, Bulgaria ranked 61 out of 105 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 10 projects and total registered capital of nearly US$31 million, focused in the fields of manufacturing and information technology.
Mr Hung stressed that the economic cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria is not adequate in comparison with the potential. Both countries see the other as their important market because Vietnam is not only a potential market but also the important gateway for Bulgaria to bring the goods and services to ASEAN; and Bulgaria is also an important market and is the gateway for Vietnam to export goods to the EU market. Currently both countries are striving to bring trade and investment relations to a new level, especially in the context of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) being established by the end of 2015 and Vietnam having completed negotiations of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) such as Vietnam - EU FTA and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Mr Tsvetan Dimitrov said today the role and position of Bulgaria in Europe as well as the position of Vietnam in ASEAN has been improved, creating a solid foundation for deepening trade cooperation between the two countries. Based on this background, Bulgaria wishes Vietnam would help the country penetrate the Southeast Asian market; Bulgaria would also actively support and create favourable conditions to help Vietnam move forward successfully in the European market.
According to Ms Nikolina Georgieva from BSMEPA, with a strategic location, situated in the heart of the European Union, Bulgaria is an important gateway for Vietnam businesses to enter the European market. Currently Bulgaria has many enterprises strong in machinery manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, animal feed and information technology. Those companies have confirmed brands in the world and are willing to invest in as well as share experience with Vietnamese enterprises, aiming to enhance the partnership between the two countries to a new level.
My Chau
Vietnamese
