Vietnam and Egypt have pledged to escalate the implementation of agreements reached by the two countries’ leaders to increase bilateral trade turnover on a par with potential and strength of each nation.
Vietnam deputy minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung and his Egyptian counterpart Said Abdullah made the announcement at the first meeting of the Vietnam-Egypt trade and industry cooperation Subcommittee in Cairo on April 22.
At the meeting, the leaders highlighted the fine traditional ties between the two countries and their advantages in geographical positions and market scales, which were shown by the signing of numerous agreements on economics, trade, and investment cooperation.
However, the total turnover in bilateral trade hit just $342 million last year, which fell far below each country’s full potential. As a result, the first meeting between the two sides was marked by both parties showing their strong determination and efforts to actively carry out the agreements signed during Egyptian President Abden Fattah El Sisi’s visit to Vietnam in 2017 and a review of cooperation mechanisms to remove technical barriers so as to facilitate bilateral investment and trade exchanges.
The two deputy ministers expressed their confidence that with such strong prospects, the two sides should make greater efforts to elevate bilateral trade to $1 billion in near future.
To reach the target, a score of measures to boost trade and industry cooperation have been taken with a focus on making regular reviews and building periodical information exchange mechanisms on the implementation of the findings of the meeting and diversifying export products in line with their demands and strength. For instance, oil and gas is Egypt’s particular strength while consumer goods production, electronic products, seafood and mechanical engineering are Vietnam’s strong areas.
Egypt also agreed to provide trade support for Halal food to help Vietnamese products achieve greater penetration into the Egyptian market and other Islamic countries.
Both sides also pledged to remove technical barriers for trade facilitation and step up closer cooperation in renewal energy and share experience in their policy making process.
