Hanoi (VNA) - President TranDai Quang’s visit to Ethiopia and Egypt from August 23-29 is expected to open newprospects for trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and the two nations,as well as with the African region in general.

Trade experts have said that Ethiopia,emerging from its prolonged drought period and high poverty rate, has become an“African tiger” with an annual economic growth of over 10 percent during thelast decade.

Ethiopia is one of the oldest kingdoms in Africa, with agriculture dominatingthe national economy.

Notably, since the establishment of diplomaticrelations in 1976, trade between Vietnam and Ethiopia has grown continuously,hitting 11.3 million USD in 2017. Vietnam exported 2.2 million USD worth of goodsto Ethiopia, mainly in textiles, leather and footwear, and chemical products.

A representative of the Asia-AfricaMarket Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), said thatthe visit to Ethiopia by President Tran Dai Quang is important to bothdiplomatic and economic ties between the two nations.

The visit will create a common frameworkfor cooperation between the two countries, thus building a credible basis forthe two sides to continue supporting each other, underlined the representative,adding that it will help Vietnam widen its export-oriented markets, while also helpingEthiopia have more development partners, attract investment, and create morejobs for its people.

With an area threetimes that of Vietnam and a population of over 100 million, Ethiopia is abundantwith natural resources and its large labour force, but it is stillinexperienced in management and lacks capital.

Vietnamcan fully share its experience with Ethiopia, helping the country exploit moreefficiently its available natural resources to achieve its goal of becoming amiddle income country by 2025.

On the other hand, Vietnam will have a large market for its products, such asfarm produce, processed food, footwear, garments, seafood, electronics andelectrical equipment, construction materials, rubber and wood, and mechanicalproducts.

In recent times, Vietnamese enterprises have started to implement a number of investmentprojects in Africa. The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group hasalready successfully implemented projects in Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon,and Burundi, and the firm is now showing interest in investing in Ethiopia.

However, the department said due to geographic conditions, Vietnam and Ethiopianeed to set up appropriate payment mechanisms to ensure security of tradingactivities.

They should also accelerate negotiationsto sign necessary agreements, thus creating a legal basis for investment andbusiness cooperation between their business communities.

Meanwhile, Egypt is the fifth largest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa. With soundrelations and continuous development, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Egyptreached 350 million USD in 2017. Vietnam’s main exports to the country includedseafood, auto spare parts, fabrics, black pepper, coffee, rubber, consumergoods, and steel.

In the first seven months of 2018, Vietnam’s export turnover to Egypt was valuedat 277 million USD, representing a year-on-year increase of 45.2 percent.

Deputy Minister of MoIT Cao Quoc Hung said Egypt is not only a potential marketbut also a gateway for Vietnamese exports to enter Africa, the Middle East, andEurope.

Vietnam and Egypt are reliable partners, sharing mutual understanding,especially in their struggles for national liberation. The relationship was furtherstrengthened when Egypt became the first Arabian country to establishdiplomatic relations with Vietnam, opening up a new development step and creatingfavourable conditions for the two sides to enhance multifaceted cooperation.

Although the two countries signed many cooperation agreements on economy, trade,and investment, their bilateral trade is still not on a par with their mutual potentialand strengths.

In order to further push bilateral tradeand industry cooperation, Vietnam and Egypt should  establish a periodic review and information exchangemechanism, diversify their exports and devise measures to fully exploit the twoeconomies’ strength and potential.

The two sides will limit the applicationof technical barriers to facilitate bilateral trade, promoting collaboration inthe spheres of oil and gas, footwear, processing food, and renewable energy.

According to Do Quoc Hung, Deputy Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department,Africa is an very important economic partner of Vietnam, especially in terms ofthe latter’s exports of rice, coffee, pepper, and coconut.

Major export markets for Vietnamese farm produce are Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria,South Africa, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire, and Ghana.

In the context of Vietnam’s traditional export markets gradually reachingsaturation, the promotion of potential export markets – such as Ethiopia andEgypt in particular, as well as Africa in general  is a new direction for Vietnamese businessesfor the time to come.–VNA