Seafood is among Vietnam's key items exported to Israel. (Photo: VNA)Tel Aviv (VNA) – The two-way trade between Vietnam and Israel was estimated at760 million USD in the first three quarters of this year with Vietnamcontinuing to enjoy a trade surplus of 440 million USD, according to aVietnamese official.
During theperiod, Vietnam’s exports to Israel exceeded 600 million USD while importstotalled around 160 million USD, said Vietnamese Trade Counsellor to Israel LeThai Hoa.
The two countries’bilateral trade stood at 677 million USD in the first eight months of the year,a slight decrease from a year earlier. The dip was largely owing to politicaluncertainty and security tension in Israel which have sparked concerns amongVietnamese exporters, plus the Middle East country has set tighter food safetyrequirements, Hoa said.
Vietnam’simports from Israel also plunged because of significant declines in imports ofcomputers and electronic parts, machinery and tools, and fertilisers, he added.
Vietnam’sexports to Israel are forecast to amount over 800 million USD in 2019 whileimports will be worth about 250 million USD.
The trade structures of Vietnam and Israel are basicallycomplementary as their export items do not directly compete each other, accordingto the trade counsellor. Henoted that the goods Israel importare also Vietnam’s key export items.
More and moreIsraeli firms have shown interest in directly importing food and foodstuff,such as cashew nut, seafood, beverage, textile and garment, footwear, consumergoods, processed and dried fruits, from Vietnam.
Notably,Vietnam’s footwear shipments to Israel rose by 27.3 percent during January – August. Vietnamese fragrant riceand frozen shrimp continued to maintain a strong foothold in the Israelimarket, Hoa noted.
In 2018, thebilateral trade surpassed 1.2 billion USD last year as many of Vietnam’sstaples gained footholds in the Israeli market.
A bilateralfree trade agreement is under negotiation and is expected to be inked shortly,in hope of lifting two-way trade to 3 billion USD.
Israel iscurrently among Vietnam’s top partners in the Middle East in terms of economicand science-technology cooperation./.
VNA
