On the occasion of the visit to Vietnam by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Vietnamese and Philippine companies gathered in a business meeting in Hanoi on September 29. President Rodrigo Duterte attended and chaired the gathering.
He stressed that the bilateral relationship is very important to both nations in particular and to ASEAN community in general. In the past four decades, both countries have made efforts to get closer, working together to find solutions together to common challenges.
Sharing a lot of similarities in economic development, the two countries find that promoting cooperation is the way to the future and strengthening strategic partnership is the key to both countries and the region to become stronger.
President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to promote more extensive cooperation between the two countries, especially in marine protection and fisherman security measures.
Philippine Secretary of Trade and Industry Ramon M.Lopez said the bilateral economic cooperation has been strengthened in recent years. The two-way trade turnover reached almost US$3 billion in 2015. Currently, around 3,800 Filipinos are working in Vietnam. The cooperation potential for mutual development is huge but untapped. He hoped the Philippines will work with Vietnam to launch broader cooperation strategies to be commensurate with the vision of strategic partnership.
On behalf of the Vietnamese business delegation, Dr Doan Duy Khuong, Vice President of VCCI, stressed that the strategic partnership of the two countries signed in 2015 has opened a new era in relationship. In just a short time, the bilateral economic ties have developed very well.
The two-way trade value has constantly increased. It rose from US$2.65 billion in 2013 to US$2.99 billion in 2014, US$2.93 billion in 2015 and US$1.72 billion just in seven months of 2016, up 17 per cent from a year-earlier period.
Vietnam’s main exports to the Philippines are rice, machinery, electronic device, computer, and mobile phone. For its part, Vietnam imports electronic equipment, steel, machinery and equipment from the Philippines.
Vietnam is becoming an attractive destination for Filipino investors. The Philippines invested US$328 million in 73 projects in Vietnam by the end of 2015, ranking 32nd out of 110 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
Secretary Lopez said, based on the potential and strength of each side, the two countries will make efforts to bring trade performance to a new high. Any drag that slows down this progress must be removed and cleared to facilitate the two-way trade.
VCCI Vice President Khuong recommended that the two countries should work on their rice contract, which was signed in 2010 and amended in November 2015, to ensure food security of both nations because the deal was set to expire on December 31, 2016. Regarding energy security, the two sides should form a clear cooperation mechanism for two giant energy corporations, PetroVietnam of Vietnam and PNOC of the Philippines, to cooperate in oil and gas exploration, development and production.
Luong Tuan
Vietnamese
