Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Over the past 50 years since Vietnam and Argentinaofficially established diplomatic relations in October 1973, the friendship andcooperation between the two countries have been continuously consolidated anddeveloped fruitfully.
Especially, since the establishment of the comprehensivepartnership in 2010, the bilateral relationship has made impressive progress,especially in economy and trade.
According to the European-American Market Department under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, Vietnam is the sixth largest trading partner and the fifthlargest importer of Argentina in the world. It is also a key Southeast Asianpartner in the Latin American nation’s South-South cooperation. Meanwhile, Argentinaremains Vietnam's third largest trading partner in Latin America.
Bilateral trade has been constantly increasing, from 316million USD in 2007 to over 4.8 billion USD in 2022. Of the total, Vietnam’sexports were valued at 851 million USD, up 2.4% year-on-year, while its importswere 4.03 billion USD, up 9.7% year-on-year.
Vietnam has mainly exported phones of all kinds and components,computers, electronic products and components, footwear, and machinery toArgentina, while importing maize, animal feed and raw materials, cotton of allkinds, and soybean from the Latin American country.
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said thatthe bilateral trade turnover remains modest compared to existing potential.
He showed his hope that the two sides will continue existingefforts to increase trade exchanges, diversify imports and exports, andgradually equilibrate the trade balance.
According to experts, with a population of more than 46million, Argentina is a large potential market to which Vietnamese businessescan export advantageous products such as footwear, garments and textiles,furniture and handicrafts.
Meanwhile, with a population of nearly 100 million and a gradualpurchasing power increase, Vietnam is also a potential market for Argentineanexporters.
At a meeting with representatives from the Vietnamese Ministryof Industry and Trade, Governor of Entre Rios province Gustavo Bordet emphasisedthe importance of Vietnam in trade relations of Argentina in general and thethree provinces of Cordoba, Entre Rios and Santa Fe in particular.
The governor said that the two sides still have hugepotential to further promote cooperation in the fields of trade, investment andagriculture. He agreed with the Vietnamese side’s proposal on providing supportfor the two countries’ businesses in trade promotion and market research.
In order to promote exports to the Argentinean market, theEuropean and American Market Department proposed enterprises actively seekinformation about the market and update Argentina's economic, trade andinvestment policies through government agencies and units such as the Ministryof Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese Embassy in Argentinean, the Argentinean Embassy in Vietnam and trade promotion centres.
Businesses should step up promotion activities, increase thequality of products, develop products in accordance with the market’s demandand taste, and seek ways to reduce transportation and logistics costs.
Minister Dien suggested the Argentinean side create morefavourable conditions for Vietnamese exporters to gain access to theArgentinean market, especially for such products as agricultural products,garments and textiles, wood products and handicrafts.
Vietnam and Argentina are exploring opportunities to expand their bilateral trade, towards lifting two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2025./.
VNA
