Ample room remains for Vietnam-Argentina trade cooperation

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s ongoing official visit to Argentina is expected to open up more opportunities for bilateral trade cooperation in the coming time.

Over the past 50 years since Vietnam and Argentina officially established diplomatic relations in October 1973, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have been continuously consolidated and developed fruitfully.

Especially, since the establishment of the comprehensive partnership in 2010, the bilateral relationship has made impressive progress, especially in economy and trade.

According to the European-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam is the sixth largest trading partner and the fifth largest importer of Argentina in the world. It is also a key Southeast Asian partner in the Latin American nation’s South-South cooperation. Meanwhile, Argentina remains Vietnam's third largest trading partner in Latin America.

Bilateral trade has been constantly increasing, from 316 million USD in 2007 to over 4.8 billion USD in 2022. Of the total, Vietnam’s exports were valued at 851 million USD, up 2.4% year-on-year, while its imports were 4.03 billion USD, up 9.7% year-on-year.

Vietnam has mainly exported phones of all kinds and components, computers, electronic products and components, footwear, and machinery to Argentina, while importing maize, animal feed and raw materials, cotton of all kinds, and soybean from the Latin American country.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that the bilateral trade turnover remains modest compared to existing potential.

He showed his hope that the two sides will continue existing efforts to increase trade exchanges, persify imports and exports, and gradually equilibrate the trade balance.

According to experts, with a population of more than 46 million, Argentina is a large potential market to which Vietnamese businesses can export advantageous products such as footwear, garments and textiles, furniture and handicrafts.

Meanwhile, with a population of nearly 100 million and a gradual purchasing power increase, Vietnam is also a potential market for Argentinean exporters.

At a meeting with representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, Governor of Entre Rios province Gustavo Bordet emphasised the importance of Vietnam in trade relations of Argentina in general and the three provinces of Cordoba, Entre Rios and Santa Fe in particular.

The governor said that the two sides still have huge potential to further promote cooperation in the fields of trade, investment and agriculture. He agreed with the Vietnamese side’s proposal on providing support for the two countries’ businesses in trade promotion and market research.

In order to promote exports to the Argentinean market, the European and American Market Department proposed enterprises actively seek information about the market and update Argentina's economic, trade and investment policies through government agencies and units such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese Embassy in Argentinean, the Argentinean Embassy in Vietnam and trade promotion centres.

Businesses should step up promotion activities, increase the quality of products, develop products in accordance with the market’s demand and taste, and seek ways to reduce transportation and logistics costs.

Minister Dien suggested the Argentinean side create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese exporters to gain access to the Argentinean market, especially for such products as agricultural products, garments and textiles, wood products and handicrafts.

Vietnam and Argentina are exploring opportunities to expand their bilateral trade, towards lifting two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2025./.