Vietnam Ambassador Stresses Exchange Of Delegations To Boost Trade

Ambassador of Vietnam Pham Hoang Kim said on Monday that trade boost is linked to exchange of trade delegations and the private sectors of the two countries should focus on this particular area

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2020 ) :Ambassador of Vietnam Pham Hoang Kim said on Monday that trade boost is linked to exchange of trade delegations and the private sectors of the two countries should focus on this particular area.

Talking to the business community here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), the ambassador said that exchange of business delegations was a must to explore each other's market. He said that there should be interaction between chambers of commerce of both countries.

Pakistan and Vietnam have strong diplomatic relations, he said adding that entrepreneurs from both sides should have B2B (business-to-business) meetings to strengthen mutual trade relations.

About getting business visas for Vietnam, the ambassador said that there must be an invitation or immigration proposal given by the business partner from Vietnam.

Pham Hoang Kim said that Lahore Chamber and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry should join hands to arrange trade delegations and promote business activities between the both countries.

On this occasion, LCCI Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad highlighted investment opportunities in Pakistan under CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) in Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

"It is encouraging to note that in the span of 10 years, Vietnam has become important trading partner of Pakistan. Among the major importing and exporting countries for Pakistan, Vietnam comes at 27th and 18th places respectively," he said and added that the balance of trade is in favour of Vietnam whereas in 2018 the value of trade deficit stood at Dollar 69 million.

From 2017 to 2018, the bilateral trade came down from dollar 717 million to dollar 633 million. It was due to 24 per cent decrease in imports from Vietnam. However, Pakistan's exports remained almost unchanged to dollar 282 million." He said that Pakistan exports to Vietnam comprise frozen fish, woven fabrics of cotton, oilcake, leather oil seeds and frozen meat etc., whereas the imports from Vietnam are electrical equipment including wireless networks, dried vegetables, tea, man-made filaments and frozen seafood etc.

Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad said that regular exchange of trade related information between two countries can prove vital in enhancing trade volume to initially 1 billion dollar. The respective commercial sections of our missions have got to play key role in this connection. In addition to that the respective private sectors of both the countries should also come forward. By exchanging trade delegations and organizing single country exhibitions in each other's countries, we can explore the hidden trade potential.

He said that the economic development achieved by Vietnam in last 10 year is a perfect case study for Pakistan. In 2009, the volume of total trade of Vietnam was to the tune of $127 billion that expanded to $480 billion in 2018. "We are keen to know about the economic policies implemented by Vietnam that produced such a wonderful result," he asserted.

LCCI Executive Committee members Fiaz Haider, Malik M. Khalid Gujjar, Yasir Khursheed, Haji Asif Sehar, Haris Attique, Sheikh Sajjad Afzal and Ch. Khadim Hussain and former EC member Rehmatullah Javed were also present.