The third meeting of the Vietnam-Argentina economic-trade joint committee was held in Hanoi on October 31 to seek ways to diversify exports, increase trade value and lift the two countries’ bilateral ties to a new height.

At the meeting, the two sides committed to creating favourable conditions for goods of each country to enter the other market.

In the agricultural sector, they specified cooperation projects and plans to implement them.

Vietnam welcomes investors from Argentina to the country, especially in energy, oil and gas, and bio-fuel. It thanked Argentina for facilitating the erection of a statue of President Ho Chi Minh in Buenos Aires.

The country also highly valued the signing of an MOU on science and technology cooperation between both sides and thanked Argentina for its help in training forensic personnel for Vietnam.

Argentinean Secretary of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Economy and Finance Beatriz Paglieri said she hopes that the two sides will seek measures to overcome existing difficulties and agree on specific programmes and projects to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the coming time in order to mark the 40 th anniversary of the two countries’ bilateral diplomatic ties in 2013.

According to Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Tran Tuan Anh, Vietnam-Argentina trade and investment relations have been unceasingly developed.

Two-way trade kept rising in 2010 despite the economic downturn.

In that year, Vietnam earned 91.6 million USD from exports to Argentina, a year-on-year increase of 64 percent. It also imported goods worth 826.3 million USD from Argentina, marking a yearly rise of 41 percent.

Vietnam exports to Argentina footwear and accessories, rubber and rubber products, machines and mechanical and electronic equipment while importing animal feed, soybeans, animal fat and vegetable oil, cereals, automobiles, farming machines, garment material, footwear and seafood from the Latin American country.-VNA