Titled “Trade with Asia: Traditional and Emerging Markets,” it also aimed to build business ties.

The event gathered diplomatic and trade promotion representatives from the four Asian nations, as well as Argentine businesspeople with experience in trade and investment in Asia and Southeast Asia. Professors, international economics students, and corporate sector representatives also participated.

Opening the event, Martin Lo Coco, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Chamber, highlighted the growing interest of Argentine companies in Asian markets due to their size, economic dynamism, and diverse opportunities.

He noted that stronger engagement with the Asia-Pacific region serves as an avenue to diversify Argentina's export markets.

During the seminar, Ngo Manh Khoi, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Argentina, presented highlights of the Vietnamese economy and cooperation opportunities for Argentine firms.

According to official data, Vietnam's GDP grew by 8.02% in 2025, while its import-export trade turnover reached a record 930.05 billion USD, with exports at 475.04 billion USD and imports at 455.01 billion USD.

The trade representative also emphasised the stability of Vietnam's economic and political environment, as well as its active international integration through agreements such as the CPTPP, EVFTA, and RCEP.

This extensive network of agreements, combined with a market of over 100 million people, makes the country a platform for accessing supply chains and other Asia-Pacific markets.

Vietnam has set growth and development goals for the coming decades. For the 2026-2030 period, the country aims to maintain an average annual GDP growth of at least 10%, with the goal of becoming a developing nation with modern industry and upper-middle-income status by 2030. By 2045, Vietnam aims to become a high-income developed country, advancing toward the consolidation of a fully developed, high-income economy by 2050.

These objectives are accompanied by a strategy focused on accelerating industrialisation, promoting innovation, driving digital transformation, and deepening international integration, which will open up increasingly larger spaces for cooperation with foreign partners and enterprises.

Regarding bilateral relations, Khoi recalled that Vietnam and Argentina established diplomatic relations and later elevated their ties. Bilateral trade reached 4.27 billion USD in 2025, a 4.1% year-on-year increase.

Vietnamese exports to Argentina hit approximately 900 million USD, an increase of 68.7%, while imports from Argentina totalled 3.39 billion USD. Argentina is currently Vietnam's third-largest trading partner in Latin America.

Both countries are also seeking to expand their trade space through negotiations for a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Vietnam and MERCOSUR, officially launched in December 2025. The first round of negotiations was held in Buenos Aires late last August.

Furthermore, Argentina submitted its application to join the CPTPP in June 2026. In this context, Vietnam — a member of the agreement and chair of the mechanism this year — serves as a relevant interlocutor for Argentina in its process of engaging with this economic integration framework.

The growing attention of the Argentine business community toward Vietnam was reflected in the participants' remarks. Ignacio Rojas, Director of International Trade at the Sunday Group, expressed his company's interest in introducing Argentine products into the Vietnamese market, initially through Hong Kong (China) or directly from Argentina.

The company currently works with about four wine producers and is developing other products, such as fruit pulps, alfajores (traditional Argentine confection), and other traditional Argentine foods.

Rojas noted that the company hopes to initiate commercial contacts with Vietnam soon. He praised the information provided by the Trade Office, which he believed offered a better understanding of the opportunities within the Vietnamese market.

For her part, Monica Renner, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), stated that these types of events help bring Argentina and Vietnam closer together.

Renner, who has visited Vietnam four times between 2008 and 2023, particularly highlighted the Asian country's strong economic growth and booming tourism sector she observed during her trips, as well as the hospitality of the Vietnamese people. She also mentioned that she strives to share these experiences with her students.

Experiences shared by participants at the seminar demonstrated the Argentine business community's growing interest in Asian markets./.VNA