Big room for Vietnam, Uruguay to expand trade ties
Hanoi (VNA) – 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./.