Vietnam strengthens business cooperation with North African countries
The Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria concurrently in Tunisia chaired a hybrid format conference on August 28 to connect Vietnamese companies with their counterparts in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
>> Common desire to strengthen their economic relations Vietnam – Algeria
>> Promoting Vietnam – Algeria economic and commercial cooperation
The event attracted 40 companies, associations and chambers of commerce from the three North African countries and 40 Vietnamese companies in the fields of production, import and export of agricultural and food products, seafood, industrial products and logistics.
Addressing the event, Trade Advisor Hoang Duc Nhuan said Vietnam is a big market with nearly 100 million consumers and is widely open to the world. In 2023, the Vietnamese economy recorded a growth rate of 5.1 percent, which is expected to reach more than 6.5 percent this year.
The country’s per capita income reached $4,280. Last year, exports reached $356 billion and imports $328 billion, which generated a trade surplus of $28 billion. The value of foreign trade accounted for nearly 200 percent of the country’s GDP, the official noted.
He said that in 2023, Vietnam attracted $36.6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), of which $23.2 billion was disbursed. At the same time, Vietnam invested $420 million abroad.
Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007 and has signed 17 multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements, 17 of which have entered into force.
Vietnam is also an attractive tourist destination in Asia. The Vietnamese tourism industry expects 18 million foreign visitors in 2024. Remittances from the Vietnamese community abroad will reach about $16 billion in 2023.
Nhuan said that since Vietnam and Algeria established diplomatic ties in 1962, their relationship has grown strongly, with bilateral trade reaching 250 million USD in 2023, an increase of 60 percent compared with 2022.
The joint venture between Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) and Sonatrach Group is a symbol of the successful cooperation between Vietnam and Algeria. Launched in 2003, the Bir Seba exploitation project produced the first barrels of oil in August 2015 with a current capacity of 18,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, Vietnam and Tunisia established diplomatic ties in 1979. Data from Tunisian customs showed that in 2023, bilateral trade increased by 51 percent year-on-year to about 100 million U.S. dollars, Nhuan said.
Companies from the three African countries have expressed interest in seeking Vietnamese partners in agriculture, clothing and textiles, footwear, agricultural machinery, electric vehicles, plastics, cosmetics and chemicals.
Algerian companies wanted to explore the procedures for setting up a business in Vietnam in the field of import and export of agricultural products and footwear, as well as the import-export tax system between the two countries.
Representatives of Tunisian companies were interested in cooperation with Vietnam in the field of footwear production as well as equipment for the production of this product.
Meanwhile, Libyan companies have said they are keen to seek Vietnamese investors in manufacturing sectors to help rebuild the country.
Hoang Duc Nhuan said that to promote economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and these countries, the parties should increase the exchange of business delegations and encourage businesses to participate in international fairs and exhibitions held in each country, while improving the exchange of market information and trade and investment opportunities, and coordinating the verification of information of business partners and supporting the resolution of disputes that may arise between businesses of the parties.
VNA/CVN
