Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Dang Xuan Dung speaking at the event (Photo: baoquocte.vn)
With the theme “Discussion with Argentinian importers”, the seminar attracted the participation of a large number of South American enterprises interested in Vietnamese goods.
Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Dang Xuan Dung briefly presented Vietnam's economic and social achievements after more than 30 years of innovation, especially highlighting the growth of the economy, which frequently ranks first in the Southeast Asian region.
After 10 years of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), in 2017, Vietnam's trade exchange increased by four times, surpassing USD400 billion.
The Ambassador also said that Vietnam has signed 12 Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and is negotiating four new agreements. He also expressed the wish of Vietnam to cooperate with Argentine to sign an FTA between Vietnam and South American Common Market (MERCOSUR), where Argentina is a member.
He affirmed that since the establishment of the comprehensive partnership in 2010, the relations between Vietnam and Argentine have witnessed impressive developments in all fields and the two countries are preparing for the visit to Vietnam by President Mauricio Macri next year, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
According to Mr. Dang Xuan Dung, the trade exchange between the two countries in the 2012-2016 period made significant progress, with an average growth rate of more than 20% per year, however the two countries still have much potential to expand export and import of new goods. Vietnam has strength in exporting products such as wood, textiles, footwear and coffee, which have conquered the US, Japanese and European markets.
Head of the Argentine’s Chamber of Commerce of Importers Ruben Oscar Garcia affirmed the determination of the government of President Mauricio Macri to open up the economy and the market, and create opportunities for businesses to exchange trade with foreign partners.
According to him, this seminar provided an opportunity for Argentinian enterprises to access information on Vietnam's strengths, contributing to promoting bilateral trade exchange.
Argentine is currently one of the most important partners of Vietnam in Latin America. In 2015 and 2016, the trade turnover between the two countries reached USD2.3 billion and USD2.9 billion respectively. As of the third quarter of 2017, Vietnam - Argentine trade exchange reached USD2.3 billion, up 15% over the same period last year, and is expected to reach USD3.5 billion this year.
Vietnam is currently the sixth largest trading partner of Argentine, with major exported products of footwear, electronics goods, textiles and agricultural machinery. Meanwhile, Argentine is the second largest supplier of agricultural products and foodstuffs to Vietnam, accounting for 11%, such as soybeans, cooking oil, corn, wheat and pharmaceutical products./.