Vietnam, Argentina Look towards Strategic Partnership

1:44:02 PM | 3/5/2019

Vietnam and Argentina will strive to further expand cooperation in various fields such as agriculture, clean energy, high technology and soccer.

The Vietnam - Argentina Business Forum was recently co-organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Argentine Embassy in Hanoi, on the occasion of the official visit to Vietnam by the President of Argentina escorted by nearly 40 businesses and associations from February 20-21, 2019.



Delivering the opening speech, Dr. Vu Tien Loc, President of VCCI, a representative body of the Vietnamese business community, said that the Argentine President’s visit to Vietnam is an important milestone marking a new progress in bilateral economic relations. This event was an opportunity for the two countries' business communities to seek cooperation and expand their investment and business scale, especially in import and export.

Currently, Vietnam has attracted only four investment projects from Argentina, a modest figure given potential cooperation opportunities of the two sides. Therefore, to upgrade the comprehensive cooperation and look to the strategic partnership, this was considered a premise for the two countries’ leaders to have talks and come to agreement.

Argentine businesses are also very interested in the Vietnamese market, hoping to cooperate in their various areas of strengths such as agriculture, animal husbandry, animal feed, agricultural product and food processing and medicine.

“Although the bilateral investment relations are still quite modest and not many Argentine enterprises invest in Vietnam for the time being, VCCI always attaches great importance to and cares for these investors. After this forum, we hope that Argentine investors and businesses can better understand the Vietnamese economy as well as our current needs to come and invest more in Vietnam in the future,” said the VCCI President.

“To further upgrade the two-way cooperation, to bring the bilateral trade value to new highs, we wish that Vietnam is not only a major economic partner of Argentina, but also a gateway for Argentine businesses to penetrate more deeply into the ASEAN market. And, reciprocally, Vietnamese businesses will also expand cooperation with companies in South America through Argentine partners,” he added.

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam emphasized that the long economic relationship between Vietnam and Argentina has been constantly developing. Argentina is currently the second largest trading partner of Vietnam in South America.

In 2018, the two-way trade value reached US$3billion. The two sides also signed many cooperation agreements, such as investment encouragement and protection agreement, economic and trade cooperation agreement, and industrial and agricultural cooperation agreement.

“The two economies have different strengths, easily complementing each other. Vietnam is strong in garment, textile and footwear while Argentina is famous for such products as animal feed and wine,” Deputy Prime Minister Dam stressed. However, he added that Argentina's investment in Vietnam is still very modest, ranking just 106th out of 129 countries and territories with investment projects in Vietnam.

He hoped that the two-way trade will thrive in the coming time on high demand for cooperation and investment of businesses, support from the two governments and complementary structure of their goods.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri also said that Argentine businesses are very interested in the Asian market, including Vietnam, particularly in the fields of their strengths like telecommunications, animal husbandry, agricultural techniques, animal feed processing.

He hoped that many big cooperation contracts will be signed by the two sides during this visit to lay the groundwork for long-term and sustainable cooperation and continued development in the future.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said, to promote the bilateral cooperation, the Vietnamese and Argentine governments should provide more favorable conditions for businesses, complete their legal frameworks, strengthen advertising and introductory activities in each country, and form quick-responding connections to promptly deal with emerging hardships for businesses.

Luong Tuan