Lumitel, Viettel Group's mobile operator in Burundi. Viettel is among a number of Vietnamese pioneering companies investing in Africa. (Photo courtesy of Viettel) Hanoi (VNA)- Bilateral trade between Vietnam and African economies has made significantgrowth in the past decade, however, there is still room for improvement.
Two-way trade jumped 250percent to 6.6 billion USD in 2018 from 2.52 billion USD in 2010, DeputyMinister of Foreign Affairs Dang Minh Khoi told a seminar on December 6.
During that time, Africabecame a favourite destination for Vietnamese companies that operate intelecommunications, agriculture and education such as the military-backedtelecom group Viettel, he said.
The two sides had alsomade improvements in political, social and diplomatic relations. Those factsprove the potential of bilateral co-operation between Vietnam and Africannations is huge, Khoi added.
Secretary General of theInternational Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) LouiseMushikiwabo said Africa was a large market with a population of 1.2 billion.The continent benefited from a young labour force, better connection with theinternational community and it was rising to become the new centre of theworld.
It was important forVietnamese and African businesses to be informed of opportunities andinformation by regional governments, she said, adding the logistic andtransporting system between the two sides must be improved to meet the traveldemand.
However, there arechallenges that have put Vietnamese companies at risk when they come to Africaand set up business relations, experts said.
Issues in the bilateraltrade included financial payment and trade fraud that are damaging Vietnamesecompanies’ confidence when they decide to do business in Africa, they said.
But experts at theseminar suggested companies on both sides should seek support from arbitrationunits to resolve any problems and disputes with trade relations.
In addition, businessrelations should be built through government agencies that help organiseconnection events for Vietnamese and African companies to exchange ideas, theysaid.
Phan Thi Thanh Nhan,Direct of Trade Finance Centre at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank forInvestment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), said one of the issues betweenVietnamese and African companies was reliability.
Payment methods playedan important role in global trade but most African banks had not metinternational standards, she said, adding it has hinder trade asVietnamese firms found it difficult to make payment through local banks.
She warned Vietnamesefirms to not advance payment to African sellers or accept late payment forlocal buyers. “Letter of credit is a creditable method if the issuer of theletter is highly reputable.”
Nguyen Phuc Nam, Deputy Directorof the Asia-Africa Market Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade,said issues between Vietnamese and African businesses came from the differencesin culture, language, legal system, travel distance and limited co-operation inthe banking sector.
The majority of Africaneconomies were still underdeveloped with poor of transportation,infrastructure, telecommunication and logistics, he said.
In addition, Vietnameseembassies and trade offices in Africa cannot evaluate all local businesses dueto lack of resources, he said.
There are only eightVietnamese embassies and five trade offices to cover 55 African countries, Namsaid, adding it was difficult for Vietnamese companies to cross-check partners’information if they were suspicious.
But it was still a mustthat Vietnamese companies ask for consultancy of Vietnamese embassies and tradeoffices in Africa about the information of local clients and partners, he said.
They should look forpartners though trade promotion activities organised by the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade and African government agencies to make sure partners arereputable and creditable, making co-operation less risky./.
Two-way trade jumped 250percent to 6.6 billion USD in 2018 from 2.52 billion USD in 2010, DeputyMinister of Foreign Affairs Dang Minh Khoi told a seminar on December 6.
During that time, Africabecame a favourite destination for Vietnamese companies that operate intelecommunications, agriculture and education such as the military-backedtelecom group Viettel, he said.
The two sides had alsomade improvements in political, social and diplomatic relations. Those factsprove the potential of bilateral co-operation between Vietnam and Africannations is huge, Khoi added.
Secretary General of theInternational Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) LouiseMushikiwabo said Africa was a large market with a population of 1.2 billion.The continent benefited from a young labour force, better connection with theinternational community and it was rising to become the new centre of theworld.
It was important forVietnamese and African businesses to be informed of opportunities andinformation by regional governments, she said, adding the logistic andtransporting system between the two sides must be improved to meet the traveldemand.
However, there arechallenges that have put Vietnamese companies at risk when they come to Africaand set up business relations, experts said.
Issues in the bilateraltrade included financial payment and trade fraud that are damaging Vietnamesecompanies’ confidence when they decide to do business in Africa, they said.
But experts at theseminar suggested companies on both sides should seek support from arbitrationunits to resolve any problems and disputes with trade relations.
In addition, businessrelations should be built through government agencies that help organiseconnection events for Vietnamese and African companies to exchange ideas, theysaid.
Phan Thi Thanh Nhan,Direct of Trade Finance Centre at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank forInvestment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), said one of the issues betweenVietnamese and African companies was reliability.
Payment methods playedan important role in global trade but most African banks had not metinternational standards, she said, adding it has hinder trade asVietnamese firms found it difficult to make payment through local banks.
She warned Vietnamesefirms to not advance payment to African sellers or accept late payment forlocal buyers. “Letter of credit is a creditable method if the issuer of theletter is highly reputable.”
Nguyen Phuc Nam, Deputy Directorof the Asia-Africa Market Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade,said issues between Vietnamese and African businesses came from the differencesin culture, language, legal system, travel distance and limited co-operation inthe banking sector.
The majority of Africaneconomies were still underdeveloped with poor of transportation,infrastructure, telecommunication and logistics, he said.
In addition, Vietnameseembassies and trade offices in Africa cannot evaluate all local businesses dueto lack of resources, he said.
There are only eightVietnamese embassies and five trade offices to cover 55 African countries, Namsaid, adding it was difficult for Vietnamese companies to cross-check partners’information if they were suspicious.
But it was still a mustthat Vietnamese companies ask for consultancy of Vietnamese embassies and tradeoffices in Africa about the information of local clients and partners, he said.
They should look forpartners though trade promotion activities organised by the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade and African government agencies to make sure partners arereputable and creditable, making co-operation less risky./.
VNA
