Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has grown 20-30 percent annually in recent years and reached US$6.2 billion in 2015, a rise of 24 percent compared with 2014. Trade between the two countries this year is expected to grow 20-25 percent, turning the UAE into Vietnam’s tenth largest trading partner.
Promoting cooperation in all facets
The UAE currently is Vietnam’s sixth largest export market, behind the US, China, Hong Kong (China), Japan, and the Republic of Korea. Vietnam exports to the UAE a wide range of products such as mobile phones, textiles and garments, footwear, computers, electronic products and components, seafood, pepper, timber and wood products, cashew nuts, plastic products, coffee, fruit and vegetables.
Mobile phones and components are major Vietnamese exports to the UAE, with their export value reaching US$4.26 billion in 2015, up 25.8 percent compared with 2014 and accounting for 79 percent of the total export value. Vietnamese products account for 53 percent of the total value of mobile phones and components imported by the UAE.
At the third session of the Vietnam-UAE Intergovernmental Committee that took place recently in Hanoi, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the two sides wished to promote all-faceted cooperation in order to increase bilateral trade to US$10 billion next year. “We reviewed the results of bilateral cooperation in specific fields since the second session in the UAE and proposed measures to boost comprehensive cooperation in the coming period,” he added.
Regarding investment, some UAE businesses have invested in Vietnam through 12 projects totally worth about US$142 million in fields such as infrastructure, real estate, utilization of natural resources and mining, manufacturing, tourism, and services. Many other UAE companies are seeking opportunities to invest in Vietnam.
In terms of transport, Vietnam and the UAE have signed an air transport agreement and established a direct flight route to facilitate travel and trade between the two sides. Currently, 14 direct flights between the two countries are offered weekly, and seven more flights will be offered in the near future.
Specific measures
At the third session of the Vietnam-UAE Intergovernmental Committee, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh proposed specific measures to promote substantial cooperation. Firstly, the two sides need to increase coordination in providing businesses with market access assistance, facilitating trade promotion activities, trade events, and business forums in each country. The Vietnamese side has carried out trade promotion activities in the UAE on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the UAE’s trade promotion activities in Vietnam remain modest.
Secondly, Minister Tuan Anh requested the UAE to continue creating favorable conditions for businesses of the two sides to cooperate in exploring, extracting, and processing oil and gas in Vietnam, the UAE, and a third country, particularly the cooperation between the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), and UAE partners.
Thirdly, the Vietnamese side would like to invite UAE businesses to invest in some projects such as South Van Phong Oil Refinery, Van Phong International Entrepot, and North Van Phong Exclusive Economic Zone in Khanh Hoa Province, the Van Don Exclusive Economic Zone in Quang Ninh, and the Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai.
Fourthly, the Vietnamese side requested the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to reply as soon as possible to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment’s proposals for funding infrastructure projects in Vietnam. At the same time, Vietnam also requested the UAE to continue recruiting Vietnamese workers to work in the UAE and other Middle-East countries.
“Vietnam attaches special importance to the UAE in the Middle East region and wishes to develop cooperative relations with this country in all facets,” Minister Tuan Anh said.
In the coming time the Vietnamese trade office in the UAE will continue intensifying trade promotion activities such as bringing Vietnamese food, agricultural products, and fruit into supermarket systems such as Al Maya, Union Corps, K&M, Lulu, and Carefour, and assisting Vietnamese exporters in seeking UAE importers.
The Vietnamese trade office in the UAE is also making plans for dissemination of information about the Vietnamese economy, trade, tourism, as well as potential exports such as electrical and electronic home appliances, electric cables, textiles and garments, footwear, processed food, wood products, and handicrafts through local media.
Vietnamese Commercial Counselor in the UAE Pham Trung Nghia:
Vietnamese businesses need to pay attention to warnings about fraudulent trading activities of companies based in the UAE. The Vietnamese trade office in the UAE has provided updated information about these companies for Vietnamese ministries, sectors, industry and trade departments of provinces and cities, and business associations. Businesses can also seek this information from Vietnamese newspapers.
Source : ven
Keyword : Vietnam-UAE trade, grows strongly.
