Vietnam and Ivory Coast boost economic-trade cooperation

Receiving the guest in Hanoi on June 10, Dien said along with Ghana, Ivory Coast is one of Vietnam’s two leading rice consumers in Africa, making up about 80% of Vietnamese exports to the African nation.

Last year saw Vietnam ship more than 656,000 tonnes of rice, mainly white, fragrant and broken rice, worth nearly US%295 million to Ivory Coast.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast is of the major suppliers of raw cashew nuts to Vietnam. Statistics show that Vietnam’s raw cashew imports from the African nation account for 20-30% of its total value of raw cashew imports from the world.

Given Ivory Coast’s position in Africa, the two sides should consider promoting negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and a bilateral Point of Total Assumption (PTA) contract, he said.

He went on to say Ivory Coast can support Vietnam and the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) to examine the possibility of FTA/PTA negotiations, opening up great opportunities for trade between Vietnam and the economic bloc.

To further boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Dien proposed that the two sides increase visit exchanges, and encourage their businesses to meet and attend exhibitions and trade fairs to be held in their countries.

Apart from consuming rice, he proposed that Ivory Coast consider increase the import of other key Vietnamese commodities that the African nation has high demand, such as textiles, footwear, household utensils, building materials, machinery and electrical equipment.

In addition, he said the two sides can promote cooperation in industries such as agricultural product and food processing and mining among others.

Adama Bictogo for his part affirmed that the Government of Ivory Coast considers Vietnam an important partner in the Asia-Pacific region, and wishes to strengthen cooperation with the Southeast Asian nation in all fields, especially economy and trade.

He expressed his delight at the positive developments in economic and trade cooperation between Ivory Coast and Vietnam in recent times, noting that their annual two-way trade turnover has been maintained at US$1 billion over the past five years.

He said Ivory Coast is currently an important transit market in Arica, and goods shipped to Ivory Coast can be re-exported to many other countries in West Africa such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Nigeria.

This gives key Vietnamese products such as agricultural products, textiles, footwear, household utensils the opportunity to access markets of ECOWAS members, he said.

Bictogo affirmed that relevant agencies of Ivory Coast would work closely with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam to jointly promote the implementation of proposals and recommendations made by the Vietnamese side.