Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Vietnam is willing to be a gateway for goods and services from the Middle East and Africa to navigate the markets of ASEAN member states, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said at a seminar held by the Foreign Ministry in Hanoi on October 20.
He expressed his satisfaction with the eight-fold increase in bilateral trade between Vietnam and the Middle East and Africa over the past 10 years from 2 billion USD in 2005 to 15.7 billion USD in 2014.
A number of Middle East and African firms have invested in key Vietnamese projects in the fields of oil and gas, seaports, industry and construction materials.
Moreover, joint work in labour exports, exchanges of medical staff and collaboration in the farming and education sectors are also a spotlight in multi-faceted cooperation between the two sides.
The Vietnamese government has committed all possible support to foreign enterprises and those from the Middle East and Africa in particular, he stated.
In his speech, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Mukhisa Kituyi said Vietnam is among the few countries that have a traditional friendship and business cooperation with the Middle East and Africa.
He hoped the seminar would map out new solutions to fine-tune legal regulations that facilitate business networking and diverse bilateral collaboration.
Vietnamese businesses, particularly those operating on small and medium scales, must improve their competitiveness to expand their operations into the Middle East and Africa, said the UN official.
Participants presented their ideas featuring bilateral economic prospects at the seminar, including investment attraction opportunities and recommendations for Vietnam-Africa farming and fisheries coordination.-VNA
