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Addressing the forum, Cecilia Todesca Bocco, Secretary for International Economic Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina, said that the country is recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic, with GDP growth of 10.4% in 2021. Last year, the country enjoyed a record in export revenue at 102.8 billion USD, along with 81.5 billion USD in imports.
She highlighted the supplementary nature of the Argentine and Vietnamese economies. In the last five years, two-way trade expanded 54%, she said, adding that Vietnam has become the sixth largest trade partner of Argentina, with Argentina's exports of 3.2 billion USD and imports of 1.24 billion USD.
Argentina mostly exports beans and corn to Vietnam, while importing industrial products, footwear, rubber and machineries from the Southeast Asian country.
Cecilia Todesca Bocco held that there are plenty of rooms for the two sides to promote collaboration, underlining the need for them to strengthen cooperation among ministries, sectors and localities.
Highlighting Argentina's strengths in the food industry, she said that the country can support Vietnam in agricultural machinery and food processing.
The two sides also boast great cooperation in the field of energy and renewable energy, she said
Argentina, as the Chair of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), will continue to strengthen exchanges with Vietnam.
Particularly, since the two sides set up their comprehensive partnership in 2010, the Vietnam-Argentina relationship has enjoyed impressive progress, with economic - trade cooperation becoming a bright spot, he noted.
Phuong said that two-way trade has increased strongly to 4.88 billion USD in 2022 from only 378 million USD in 2007, making Argentina the fifth largest trade partner of Vietnam in the Latin American region and Vietnam the sixth biggest trade partner of Argentina globally.
Argentina is one of the leading suppliers of corn and animal feed to Vietnam. Regarding investment, Argentina currently has five projects in Vietnam, ranking 122 among the 140 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
The two sides have conducted many joint projects in agriculture, anthropology-forensics, science and technology, he said.
Underlining Vietnam's resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Phuong noted that last year, while many countries suffered minus growth, Vietnam posted a 3% economic expansion with GDP growth of 8.2%, and 9.1% increase in import-export revenue. The country was also listed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) among the 20 top countries in FDI attraction with 36,000 valid foreign-invested projects worth over 422 billion USD.
Currently, the scale of Vietnam's economy is about 409 billion USD, making it the 5th largest economy in Southeast Asia, while its per capita income has topped 4,100 USD, and trade scale hit more than 730 billion USD. Vietnam has signed 15 free trade agreements with more than 60 countries and territories, including the largest markets in the world, and increasingly diversified its markets, products and supply chains.
He said he hopes Argentina, as a member of the Mercosur, will serve as a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter the South American market. Meanwhile, Vietnam will act as a bridge connecting Argentina and the ASEAN as well as the Asia-Pacific region.
However, he pointed to difficulties facing businesses of both sides in trade activities, including a lack of a direct transport route, and suggested that the two sides diversity import-export products, improving and generally balancing bilateral trade.
Vietnam wishes to increase the export of high-quality products of its strength meeting the needs of the Argentine market such as textile products, leather and footwear, agricultural and aquatic products, wood and furniture, and construction materials. Meanwhile, Argentina can continue to export corn and soybeans with stable supply and prices to Vietnam, he proposed.
Alongside, the two sides should expand technical cooperation and investment partnership in promising areas such as hi-tech agriculture, mining and lithium production, agricultural product processing, agricultural green hydrogen gas production technology, biotechnology, health care, green energy, and AI technology, he said.
The official also underlined the need for an increase in trade and investment promotion activities, affirming that Vietnam always welcomes and provides optimal conditions for Argentine businesses to seek business and investment opportunities in Vietnam.
Together with fostering coordination in settling obstacles hindering economic cooperation, the two sides should consider the opening of their markets for each other's strong products following a suitable roadmap, he said.
The official said he hopes Vietnam and Argentina will resume negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Mercosur, which is expected to help create a breakthrough in improving the competitive advantages for businesses of both sides in penetrating each other's market.
At the forum, under the co-chair of Cecilia Todesca Bocco, Argentine Secretary for International Economic Relations, and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, participants exchanged information on each other's market and explored business and cooperation opportunities, especially in the areas of each other's strengths and demands.
Big room for Vietnam, Uruguay to expand trade ties
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s visit to Uruguay is expected to open up opportunities for stronger economic and trade ties, and win-win cooperation between Vietnam and the Latin American country.
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, Uruguay is one of Vietnam's potential trade partners in Latin America. However, trade cooperation between the two countries remains modest and has yet to be commensurate with their potential.
According to the Europe-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), two-way trade between Vietnam and Uruguay hit 190.5 million USD in 2022, up 106.5% year-on-year. Vietnam earned 102.9 million USD from exports to Uruguay, while spending 87.6 million USD on imports from the Latin American nation, up 76.7% and 157.2%, respectively.
Uruguay's data showed that Vietnam's exports to the country in January 2023 reached more than 5.7 million USD, up 2.4% over the same period in 2022. Meanwhile, Uruguay's imports from Vietnam totaled over 1.6 million USD, down 48.17% year-on-year.
High per capita income, the development of the service industry, and frequent shopping habits of Uruguayan people are considered as favourable factors for Vietnam's exports.
Notably, during the third meeting of the Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation of Vietnam and Uruguay on April 14 this year, the two sides agreed on many practical solutions to solve obstacles in bilateral trade and investment relations, and proposed trade promotion measures to facilitate activities of the two countries’ businesses.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Uruguayan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Albertoni agreed to continue working closely to effectively implement the contents agreed upon at the meeting, towards the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Uruguay is a potential market and one of the important partners of Vietnam in the region, Hai said, adding that the country has an important voice in Latin America as it is one of the founding members of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur - including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay).
Hai said the two sides should further step cooperation within bilateral and multilateral frameworks; and focus on diversifying the structure of import and export products, promoting trade promotion activities, and supporting the business community in exploring the market and seeking business opportunities, thus further strengthening the bilateral trade.
At the meeting, the two sides also proposed new cooperation areas, including food safety, customs, science and technology, software, wood exploitation and processing.
To boost exports to the Uruguayan market, the MoIT advised Vietnamese businesses to actively seek market information and update economic-trade-investment policies of both countries through the MoIT, the Vietnamese Embassy in Argentina which is also in charge of Uruguay and Paraguay, the Embassies of Argentina and Uruguay in Vietnam, and trade promotion centres of provinces and centrally-run cities.
They should also actively participate in market survey activities, and face-to-face and online trade-investment promotion events with Uruguayan partners to seek business opportunities; pay heed to improving the quality and competitiveness of products and developing new products.
The MoIT, and relevant ministries and sectors, and the Vietnam Trade Office in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will provide market information, serve as a bridge connecting the Vietnamese business community with partners in these markets, and help address difficulties facing Vietnamese firms in making inroads into the countries.
Source: VNA
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