Pakistani Consulate General inaugurated in HCM City
(VOV) - The Pakistani Embassy in Vietnam on February 22 inaugurated its Consulate General in HCM City and appointed Duong Quoc Thai, director of the Saigon Plastics JSC, as its honorary Consul General.
At the function, Pakistani ambassador Zaigham Uddin Azam noted the appointment of the honorary Consul General will help fuel trade ties between Pakistan and HCM City, as well as with Vietnam in the coming years.
He said the Pakistani embassy, with support of the newly established Consulate General, will work hard to boost bilateral comprehensive cooperation, aiming to raise two-way trade to US$2 billion by 2020.
Nguyen Hong Linh, director of the HCM City Municipal Department of External Affairs, said the opening of the Consulate General demonstrates Pakistan’s desires to strengthen ties with Vietnam and HCM City in particular.
He expressed hope the consular office will provide a reliable source of information for the two countries’ business communities to seek trade and investment opportunities.
Vietnam and Pakistan established diplomatic ties in 1972. They have carried out cooperation programmes in agriculture, education-training, and science-technology. They are planning to expand cooperation in informatics, telecommunications, finance-banking, and health care.
Two-way trade has increased 25% annually, reaching US$500 million in 2013.