Hanoi (VNA) – Minister ofIndustry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien discussed measures to promote economic and trade ties between Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province, whilemeeting with Secretary of the Yunnan Party Committee Wang Ning in Hanoi.

Dien said Yunnan provinceholds an important role in economic and trade ties as it hasa large market and diverse goods demand while serving as a crucial gateway for Vietnameseproducts to enter the southwest of China.

However, trade between Vietnam andYunnan remains modest, accounting for less than 5% of the Vietnam - China trade,which hasn’t fully reflected the cooperation potential and demand of both sidesor met expectations leaders from of the two countries, he went on.

Proposing measures for fosteringeconomic and trade links, the host official suggested Yunnan facilitate customsclearance at its border gates with Vietnam and the export of Vietnam’s fisheryproducts to China. He also suggested to connect businesses and helpthem participate in fairs and exhibitions, properly carry out the memorandum ofunderstanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Yunnanadministration, and sign an action plan on the MoU implementation for 2023 -2026 early.

The minister asked the Chinese province to quickly and completely resume activities ofborder gates and crossings with Vietnam, and create conditions for Vietnamese truckdrivers when handling customs clearance procedures. He also asked to consider measures forcutting down logistics costs, and upgrade infrastructure serving the import offishery products from Vietnam so as to help meet Chinese consumers’ demand andturn these products into a new growth engine of bilateral trade.

For his part, Secretary Wang noted hehas assigned agencies, sectors, and border localities of his province toconsider reopening more border gates and crossings, extend operationtimes, upgrade customs clearance infrastructure at border gates, and considerpermitting Vietnamese drivers to stay in Yunnan overnight pending customsclearance.

He said Vietnamese fishery products are attractive to consumers in not only Yunnan but also other southwestern localities of China, adding that Yunnan is a large province so logistics costsare also high accordingly, but it will devise solutions to this issue.

Wang also called for stronger tourismand investment partnerships as both sides hold cooperation potential in thesefields.

At the meeting, the two sides alsolooked into concrete measures for implementing the common perceptions between Vietnamese and Chinese leaders and for creating breakthroughs in economicand trade connections.

The Industry and Trade Department ofVietnam’s Bac Giang province also signed an MoU on economic and tradecooperation enhancement with the Yunnan Commerce Department./.