Buenos Aires (VNA) – The Vietnam-Argentina Inter-governmental Committee for Economicand Commercial Cooperation held its 6th meeting in Buenos Aires,Argentina, on October 25 and 26.

The meeting wasco-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai andHoracio Reyser, Secretary for International Economic Relations at the ArgentineMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.

Speaking at the meeting,Reyser expressed his delight at positive progress in bilateral relations andhighlighted the importance of the Argentina-Vietnam comprehensive partnership. Theregular exchange of working delegations to boost trade collaboration isevidence of the enhancement of the bilateral relationship, he said.

Reyser saidafter the committee’s fifth meeting held in Hanoi in 2016 and its mid-term meetingin Buenos Aires in October 2017, the closer bilateral cooperation has beenfostered via the joint implementation of some technical projects.

The official saidArgentina sent a multi-sector business delegation to accompany Minister of ForeignAffairs and Worship Jorge Faurie during his visit to Vietnam in a bid to improve existingdialogue channels between the two countries and discover new collaborationopportunities in the fields of pharmaceuticals, bio-technology, medicalmachines, food (particularly poultry and beef), seafood, and fruits.

Based on the unanimousagreement, the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) is willing to begin apre-feasibility dialogue with Vietnam towards negotiations on a free tradeagreement between Mercosur and Vietnam, he said.

As a member ofMercosur, Argentina will update information for Vietnam on the bloc’s stance onthe matter, he added.

For his part,Hai said the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam andArgentina have been continuously strengthened and developed since the twonations established diplomatic ties 45 years ago. Several agreements weresigned in the spheres of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, andscience-technology, he said.

Hai said in thepast time, the two countries have worked closely in conducting technicalcooperation projects within the framework of the Argentine Fund for South-Southand Triangular Cooperation (FOAR), with positive and beneficial outcomesrecorded. Vietnam and Argentina have also step up partnership in culture,tourism, sports, and education, particularly Spanish language teaching.

To boostbilateral trade and investment and comprehensive cooperation across fields, hesuggested the two countries enhance the sharing of information and increase theexchange of business delegations, trade-investment promotions, and culturalexchanges.

The DeputyMinister recommended the two sides prioritise allocating resources for tradetransactions, particularly trade balance, and joint hands to increase thediversity of traded goods.

At the meeting, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade andthe Argentine Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (AAICI) signed a memorandum of understanding on facilitatingbilateral trade and investment promotion activities.

Argentina is now the secondbiggest trade partner of Vietnam in Latin America, while Vietnam is the fifthtrade partner of Argentina in the global market. In 2017, bilateral trade hit3.03 billion USD. Argentina is investing in four projects worth 284,000 USD inVietnam, ranking 106 out of 129 foreign investors in the country.-VNA