Mr Hachemi expressed his pleasure at welcoming the delegation before the 42nd Algiers International Exhibition Fair, which will open on May 30 with several Vietnamese businesses taking part.

The minister pledged to create the best possible conditions for both Vietnamese and Algerian enterprises to do business with each other and offered Vietnam a free pavilion at the Algiers International Fair from 2010.

Meanwhile, a Vietnamese business delegation has stayed in the capital city of Algiers to seek out opportunities for bilateral cooperation through a business forum. It included representatives of 15 Vietnamese companies that import and export garments and textiles, leather shoes, rice, coffee and coconut fibre.

Last year, Vietnam earned US$75.63 million in exports to the Algerian market, a year-on-year increase of 87 percent.

Vietnam ships mainly coffee, pepper, rice and seafood to Algeria while imports cashew nuts and steel from the country at a total cost of more than US$1.2 million a year.