Do Nhu Dinh, vice minister, Ministry of Trade, Vietnam, has emphasised that Pakistan and Vietnam business community should have regular meetings to boost two-way trade.
Speaking in a meeting at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Tuesday, he said that Pakistan and Vietnam enjoys cordial relations but the volume of trade between two countries did not reflect the same.
He said that Vietnam and Pakistan offers a variety of items, which can help boost two-way trade. He suggested that trade between Vietnam and Pakistan can be increased by devising a mechanism of regular exchange trade information, participating in trade exhibitions and frequent visits of each other countries.
He noted that two-way trade between Pakistan and Vietnam increasing at a rate of 25 percent per annum and said that since 1999 two-way trade, which was 10 million dollars increased to 60 million dollars in 2004. Still this increase is not sufficient and added that vast potential exists to increase the volume of bilateral trade.
He said that annual economic growth of Vietnam is around 8.4 percent per annum. Total imports of Vietnam are around 36.8 billion dollars and total exports are 32.23 billion dollars in 2005. He said that Vietnam exports around 7.2 billion dollars crude oil, 4.8 billion dollars textile, 2.4 billion dollars sea food, second largest exporter of rice in the world, 95,000 tonnes of tea, etc.
He said that Vietnam is a member of Asean and soon would become member of the WTO.
He appreciated KCCI invitation to participate in KCCI exhibition scheduled to be held in June 2007 and assured that he will pass on the invitation to Vietnam companies. He also invited Pakistani business community to participate in annual exhibitions held in April and October in Vietnam.
Welcoming the guests, A. Abdullah Zaki, Acting President of KCCI, said that Vietnam is well placed to be gateway to the Asean countries within the framework of the Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in a region consisting of 500 million people and as a bridge to the massive market of 1.3 billion Chinese consumers. He said that vast opportunities exist of co-operation between the two countries in the fields of textile, automobile, agricultural implements, and fisheries.
He said that Pakistan and Vietnam should also explore the areas of joint co-operation for manufacturing and co-marketing of our products in international markets. "We have the potential and must share our experience, expertise and know-how in the fields of fisheries development for world market like Europe and USA.
Later, KCCI and Vietnam Advertisement and Fair Exhibition Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Vietnam's participation in My Karachi Expo.
The MoU was signed by Chairman, Fair, Exhibition and Trade Delegation sub-committee KCCI and General Director Vietfair Group on behalf of their respective organizations.