Hanoi (VNA) – Cooperation in trade and investment between Vietnamand Africa, especially East Africa, has yet to meet the two sides’ potential,Vietnamese Ambassador to Tanzania, cum Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Ugandaand Comoros Nguyen Kim Doanh has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Doanhsaid that East Africa is a big market with around 245 million people, including70 million belonging to the middle class.

Countries in the region have to import a lot of buildingmaterials, garment and textiles and consumer products due to theunderdevelopment of their processing and manufacturing, Doanh pointed out,adding that these products are a strength of Vietnamese enterprises.

According to him, East African people favour made-in-Vietnamgoods, especially footwear, garment and textiles, household utensils, farmingmachines and construction materials.

At present, there are several small traders travelling toVietnam to import the Southeast Asian nation’s consumer goods, but they are notavailable in the region.

The diplomat said that some Vietnamese firms have visitedEast Africa to learn about this market. They said that this is a potentialmarket, but they will face a lot of difficulties when starting investment andbusiness there.

Doanh said that in his meetings with government officials ofTanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, and ambassadors of African countries toTanzania, they all laud Vietnam’s economic development achievements and want tolearn from the country’s experience, especially in the agricultural field suchas rice cultivation, aquatic product farming and coffee planting andprocessing.

To boost Vietnam’s multifaceted cooperation with countriesin Africa in general and East Africa in particular, especially in economy,trade and investment, and consolidate Vietnam’s position in Africa, AmbassadorDoanh stressed the need to strengthen delegation exchanges, particularlyhigh-ranking delegations, via the Party, State and people-to-people channels.

Vietnam should have a particular relation developmentstrategy with each nation, which defines strengths and prioritized fields ineach period, and complete the legal framework in the trade and investment tieswith each nation, he added.-VNA