Vietnam, Algeria look to beef up trade partnership

Algiers (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Algeria’s northeastern province of Annaba recently held a seminar to discuss trade cooperation between the two countries.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Pham Quoc Tru highlighted the friendship between the two countries, affirming Vietnam’s interest in boosting bilateral trade and investment cooperation.

He held that in order to hit the target of 1 billion USD in two-way trade in 2020, the two sides should work together to remove obstacles hindering bilateral trade and investment ties, while creating favourable legal conditions for businesses of both sides.

Vietnamese and Algerian enterprises should also seek business partnerships in each country, he added, pledging that the embassy will help connect the two business communities.

Meanwhile, Trade Counselor Hoang Duc Nhuan detailed the economic development of Vietnam, as well as bilateral cooperation between the two countries and a handbook on Vietnam’s market.

Djouadi Azzedine, a representative from the Annaba Chamber of Commerce and Industry briefed participants on investment opportunities in the province in trade, industry, agriculture and tourism.

The local government is also upgrading old industrial parks to speed up the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.

He also called for Vietnamese enterprises’ investment in infrastructure building, housing, consumer goods production, footwear, fisheries and agriculture.

The representative also suggested establishing a business council to support bilateral trade and forming a direct partnership between the provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also revealed that a delegation from the province will attend the Vietnam Expo in November this year.

At the seminar, the two sides also sought measures to beef up economic partnership, including proposing to the governments of both countries to sign a number of trade and investment, banking and labour deals, as well as increasing delegation exchanges.-VNA