Hanoi (VNA) – The total value of trade and investment transactions signed by Vietnamese businesses at the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in recent years has reached an estimated 50 million USD, according to the Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) is scheduled to take place in Nanning, China’s Guangxi province, from September 16 to September 19 after three years held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the event’s organiser, the expo will cover 122,000sq.m., both indoor and outdoor, and feature six main zones. These include a zone for displaying products of ASEAN countries and China, an exhibition zone for outstanding cities, a zone for an investment cooperation exhibition, and the other three for showing agricultural cooperation, new technologies, and trade services.
Besides, more than 100 investment and trade promotion events, along with conferences and workshops of the 10 ASEAN countries and others will also be arranged.
Addressing a meeting to introduce the 20th CAEXPO held by VIETRADE on February 21 in Hanoi, Luong Hoang Tai, Deputy Director of the agency, said that Vietnam plays a crucial role as a gateway for the ASEAN-China free trade area, and a bridge connecting the ASEAN community and China.
The CAEXPO is an important trade promotion event in the fields of commerce, investment, and tourism, helping strengthen the linkages among countries in the region and maximising the benefits brought by the ASEAN-China free trade area, he stressed.
It will also provide a good chance for Vietnam to expand its exports to China and other ASEAN countries, Tai added.
“With the in-person format resumed, the 20th CAEXPO is a major rendezvous for ASEAN and Chinese companies as well as international businesses around the world. It will help enhance enterprises’ trust in the recovery and development of trade and investment partnerships,” Tai said.
For the Chinese side, Li Zhenmin, Economic and Trade Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, stressed that Vietnam is the largest trading partner of China within ASEAN and the 6th largest globally.
The Chinese Embassy in Vietnam will continue to support Vietnamese businesses participating in the CAEXPO, thus further promoting economic-trade cooperation between the two countries, towards deepening the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, Li said.
According to the organiser, Vietnamese businesses have an opportunity to access approximately 50,000 Chinese and ASEAN traders at each expo.
Vietnam is set to be represented by over 200 booths at the upcoming 20th CAEXPO, the biggest number it will have at this annual event so far.
Statistics from the Vietnamese and Chinese sides show that trade and investment transactions signed by Vietnamese businesses at CAEXPO in recent years has totaled an estimated 50 million USD.
At the 7th ASEAN-China Summit on October 8, 2003, in Bali, Indonesia, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced the initiative to hold the annual CAEXPO in Nanning, Guangxi, starting from 2004.
The event plays an important role as it provides a chance for Vietnam to advertise product brands in the southern Chinese market and promote exports to the neighbouring country.
It has also become a platform for multilateral economic and trade cooperation between ASEAN and China, bringing together a large number of Chinese and ASEAN businesses and investors./.