Argentina to serve as gateway for local goods to penetrate South American market

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended the Vietnam- Argentina Business Forum held on April 25 in Buenos Aires as part of activities taking place within the framework of his official visit to the Latin American country.

In a speech given at the event, Cecilia Todesca Bocco, secretary for International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, said that trade turnover and the support of the two countries' economies has contributed to strengthening economic and trade ties between both sides over recent years.

The past five years has seen bilateral trade turnover grow by 54%, with Vietnam being Argentina's sixth trade partner with an export turnover of US$3.2 billion and imports of US$1.24 billion from Vietnam.

Bocco assessed that the two countries still have plenty of room to achieve broader co-operation, with the Argentinian side able to add a lot of export items for the country to expand and diversify its economic and trade relations, she added.

Therefore, both sides must seek to further ramp up links between provinces, cities, ministries, and sectors. On the Argentine side, many delegations have been sent to Vietnam, including 32 representative enterprises operating in meat, pork, beef, lamb production, citrus fruits, and cattle meat.

Recalling the comments recently made by the Argentinean President and NA Chairman Hue when they said that both nations have specific opportunities for co-operation in the field of renewable energy, especially in the context of Industry 4.0, Bocco said the forum also aims to specify that agenda with projects that can be done jointly. She also highlighted the forum as a place for the two sides to outline orientations for the next 50 years of co-operation.

NA Vice Chairman Tran Quang Phuong said that over recent time, trade and investment promotion activities have been actively implemented by the two sides, with the Vietnamese side organising two business delegations to survey the Argentinean market in 2017 and 2018. Indeed, Argentina organised many delegations, especially a delegation of more than 20 business representatives to Vietnam to attend the International Food Industry Exhibition (FoodExpo) in 2022.

The two sides have also collaborated to effectively implement technical co-operation projects in the fields of agriculture, anthropology-forensics, science and technology to create comprehensive links across multiple areas where both sides have strengths and needs.

Despite geographically distance, both countries share plenty of similarities as both have great potential to become transit points for goods and investment flows that connect with countries throughout the region and the world.

According to NA Vice Chairman Phuong, the two countries’ business communities still face obstacles due to the remote geographical distance without direct transport of goods and passengers, thereby leading to a delay in transportation. Other hurdles include long transportation and travel times, high costs, and differences in both language and business practices.

As a way of further strengthening economic, trade, and investment relations and taking advantage of opportunities in the new context, NA Vice Chairman Phuong suggested the two sides pay greater attention to diversifying traditional import and export products in order to increase turnover and gradually balance the bilateral trade balance.

Specifically, Vietnam wishes to promote the export of strong and high-quality products that are suitable for the needs of the Argentine market, such as apparel products, footwear, agricultural and aquatic products, timber products and furniture, as well as construction material.

In the opposite direction, the Argentinean side continues to export corn, and soybeans with a stable supply and prices to the Vietnamese market.

Along with trade co-operation, relevant agencies and businesses of the two countries are considering and expanding technical ties and investment links in potential fields such as high-tech agriculture, mining and lithium production, agricultural product processing, high-tech agricultural green hydrogen gas production technology, and agricultural product processing. This is along with biotechnology, health care, green energy, and AI technology serving the digital transformation of each country to increase comprehensive co-operation and long-term association.

The two sides need to work together in implementing trade-investment promotion activities, providing information to the business community of the two sides about each other's markets, helping businesses to attend trade connection activities in the form of face-to-face or online meetings, holding exchanges, and seeking further co-operation opportunities.

The Vietnamese side remains ready to welcome and create optimal conditions for the Argentine business community to explore business and investment opportunities in Vietnam.

In order to facilitate the promotion of bilateral trade and investment, NA Vice Chairman Phuong wished that both nations would strive to accelerate negotiations for a free trade agreement, as well as between the Vietnamese side and the MERCOSUR bloc.

This agreement would create an important breakthrough for businesses of the two countries to have a competitive advantage in accessing each other's markets.

NA Vice Chairman Phuong also voiced his hope that this forum will have substantive and effective exchanges between ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses of the two sides, thereby opening up new opportunities and creating long-term cohesion for the benefit of both nations.