Seminar aims to boost Vietnam-China trade links

Nguyen The Hung, Deputy Director of the HCM City branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI-HCM) highlighted the fruitful economic and trade ties between Vietnam and China over the past years. China is currently the biggest trade partner of Vietnam with bilateral trade reaching US$71.6 billion last year, including nearly US$22 billion from Vietnam’s exports.

HCM City is a strategic economic hub of Vietnam and an attractive destination for foreign businesses, including those from China. With dynamism and a big population, the city is also a potential consumption market, Hung noted.

Vietnam primarily exports crude oil, coal, computers and components, rubber, rice, vegetables, fruits and aquatic products to China, while importing machinery, equipment, spare parts, apparel and footwear materials, steel and fertilizer from the country.

The VCCI-HCM and the administration of Shandong’s Qingdao city also inked a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation, paving the way for the two localities to boost bilateral trade and investment in the years to come ahead, he said.

Wong Chen Wei, a representative of Deloitte Vietnam, said Vietnam has taken a number of incentives for foreign investors. Favourable conditions have been also provided for businesses operating in the prioritised fields such as the supporting and hi-tech industries, auto assembly, electronics, leather-footwear and textiles-garment.

Zhai Luning, vice president of the Shandong provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said Vietnam is an important economic and trade partner of China as well as Shandong.

The trade value between Vietnam and Shandong climbed to US$28.5 billion last year.

Zhai told participants that Shandong is one of the most developed provinces in China, and it holds advantages in producing machinery, steel, equipment and agricultural products, but has high demand for electronics, fresh and dried fruits, rubber, oil and gas from Vietnam.

With mutually-complementary advantages, Shandong and Vietnam, and HCM City in particular, still boast huge potential for broader cooperation and stronger trade in the future, she said.