Vietnam Ambassador Urges Strengthening Mutual Trade Relations during LCCI Visit
Published on: March 20, 2024.
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LAHORE: Ambassador of Vietnam, Nguyen Tien Phong, recently highlighted the importance of leveraging the strengths of Vietnam and Pakistan to enhance mutual trade relations during a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). The Ambassador emphasized that opportunities could arise for Pakistan from Vietnam’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with key economies like the EU, USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. Conversely, Vietnam could benefit from Pakistan’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Plus Status. Ambassador Phong stressed the significance of fostering business-to-business and people-to-people contacts, recommending measures such as E-visas to facilitate business activities. Key sectors for collaboration include tourism, textiles, IT, and agriculture.
One area of potential collaboration emphasized by Ambassador Phong is the textile sector. Vietnam imports yarn and cotton from Pakistan, transforms them into garments, and exports them to various markets. Pakistan’s strong IT labor force and Vietnam’s existing affiliations with Japan, India, and South Korea make IT another sector ripe for collaboration. Additionally, Ambassador Phong highlighted agriculture as a sector with potential cooperation opportunities, citing Vietnam’s status as the world’s third-largest rice exporter and identifying areas such as Halal food, seafood, and fish farming.
President of LCCI, Kashif Anwar, echoed Ambassador Phong’s sentiments, emphasizing the longstanding diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Pakistan. Anwar expressed admiration for Vietnam’s economic progress and proposed learning from its economic model. He noted a decline in exports and imports between the two countries in recent years and stressed the need to increase bilateral trade volume. Anwar suggested better market access, diversification of exports, and exploring new sectors such as seafood, processed meat, pharmaceuticals, and tourism as potential avenues for growth.
Anwar recommended exploring the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Vietnam to enhance market access for businesses in both countries. He also mentioned the establishment of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in Pakistan and expressed a desire to attract investors from Vietnam to sectors like defense, agriculture, minerals, IT/telecommunication, and energy. Anwar proposed increasing the frequency of direct flights, strengthening banking channels, organizing trade delegations, and hosting single-country exhibitions as measures to stimulate mutual trade relations. He emphasized the importance of commercial sections of diplomatic missions in disseminating market information and creating greater awareness of each other’s markets among business communities.
Source: Business Recorder
