Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on Nov. 5 said that investment and trade relations with Belarus have great potential to develop, especially in the fields of electronics, mining, machinery and automobile.

Hai was speaking at a reception for Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik, who is in Vietnam to attend the ninth session of the Vietnam-Belarus inter-governmental Committee.

Hai said that to boost bilateral cooperation, the inter-governmental committee should work more actively, while negotiations should be sped up for a bilateral free trade agreement as well as the agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan .

Deputy FM Aleinik said the four-fold increase of trade exchanges over the past five years was the basis for Belarus to seek expansion of investment in Vietnam, focusing on car assembly, electronic components and engine machinery.-VNA