Vietnam, Chile push forward trade
Vietnam highly values Chile’s role and always considers Chile one of its top important partners in the region, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien told Ambassador of Chile to Vietnam Sergio Narea during a reception in Hanoi on July 6.
To further push forward bilateral trade, Dien underlined the importance of effectively maintaining the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Commission mechanism to review the progress of the implementation of the Vietnam-Chile FTA and seek measures to address obstacles in bilateral economic, trade and investment relations.
He suggested that the next meeting of the commission should focus discussion on issues such as cooperation towards rapid economic recovery and sustainable development, and jointly shaping new global production and supply chains that are resilient to future crises.
The minister also called attention to the possibility of expanding cooperation in foundational industries such as materials and support industries, manufacturing, chemicals and renewable energy; as well as in breakthrough sectors that are in line with international trends, such as green technology, the use of new energy, digital economy with high technology content, and e-commerce.
Regarding trade promotion activities, Dien proposed increasing the exchange of business delegations to share market information and encouraging each other's firms to join in their trade fairs and exhibitions.
On the occasion, he asked the Chilean side to send a business delegation to the Vietnam International Sourcing 2023 slated for September 13-15, adding that the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) will also organise a delegation of around 18 companies from the national key trade promotion programme to make a visit to Chile.
Minister Dien wished to receive support from the Chilean Embassy in Vietnam and relevant Chilean agencies for the organisation of a Vietnam-Chile Business Forum within the framework of the visit.
Ambassador Narea, for his part, affirmed that Chile always values and wishes to bolster cooperation with Vietnam in various fields, especially in the economy, trade and investment.
He promised to work closely with the MIT and relevant Vietnamese agencies to promote exchanges on issues raised by Vietnam, particularly in successfully holding the fifth meeting of the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Commission.
Chile wants to strengthen bilateral trade ties in the near future, with the goal of lifting two-way trade, he said.
Last year, two-way trade between Vietnam and Chile hit US$2.15 billion, up 9% annually. In the first five months of this year, the figure reached US$697.5 million, down 25.1% year-on-year. Chile is now one of the four biggest trade partners of Vietnam in Latin America, behind Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, according to the MIT.