Vietnam and Russia step up economic and trade co-operation
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese Embassy in Russia has hosted a seminar aimed at seeking ways to remove hurdles in economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Russia.
At the May 15 event, Duong Hoang Minh, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Russia, said that joint trade turnover in 2021 hit a record high of US$7.1 billion, although it fell to only US$3.6 billion in 2022 due to the negative impact of Western sanctions placed against Russia.
In the opening four months of 2023 two-way trade turnover showed signs of undergoing a slow recovery, reaching more than US$1 billion.
Minh therefore advised businesses of both countries to fully tap into the advantages that exist to increase investment and production of goods in each other's markets.
Vietnamese enterprises must pour further investment into fields such as processing agricultural products, food, seafood, garments, and wooden products in Russia, along with getting more involved in specialised trade fairs and exhibitions in Russia, he noted.
Vyacheslav Kharinov, chief representative of the Russian Trade Office in Vietnam, pointed out that since the beginning of 2022, both sides have faced challenges in terms of logistics, transportation, and bilateral payments due to ongoing global uncertainties.
He stressed the need to facilitate the implementation of cooperation initiatives, establish joint ventures and accelerate the deployment of projects on energy, infrastructure, information, and space technology.
For his part, Nikita Kondratiev, director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, emphasised that a lack of information is one of the major obstacles to the implementation of new cooperation projects.
He recalled that Russia’s FESCO Corporation launched a sea route from Vietnamese ports to Vladivostosk port last year to facilitate trade the two countries, while TransContainer company has also transported consumer goods by rail from Vietnam to Russia recently.
Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi underscored the importance of promoting the bilateral trade cooperation mechanism, noting that the Vietnamese Ministry of Economic Development and the Central Bank of Russia will strictly coordinate with the Vietnamese side in a bid to seek solutions for issues on payment and the issuance of visas.
It is also important to strengthen the training of human resources and enhance people-to-people exchanges moving forward, he said.
