HCMCity (VNA) – Hundreds of enterprises of Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) gathered at atrade and investment forum in Ho Chi Minh City on October 17.

Jointly organised by the Trade Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Industry andTrade and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the event aimedto promote sustainable trade and investment cooperation and createopportunities for building business partnership between the two countries.

Director of the Trade Promotion Agency Vu Ba Phu said two-way trade betweenVietnam and UAE hit 4.26 billion USD in the first nine months of 2019, with Vietnam’sexports to UAE reaching nearly 4 billion USD, up 2.23 percent compared to thesame period last year.

Vietnam has become the largest trading partner of the UAE in Southeast Asia andthe UAE is also the largest partner of Vietnam in the Middle East. Vietnam iscalling on UAE businesses to invest in areas of logistics infrastructure, oiland gas, renewable energy, and supporting industries.

Deputy Director of VCCI office in HCM City Tran Ngoc Liem said trade betweenthe two countries has grown fast but in an unsustainable manner. He said Vietnamwants the UAE to become a major partner of Vietnam in the Middle East, helping Vietnamesegoods to reach other markets in the Middle East, Africa and the world.

Vietnam in general and HCM City in particular want UAE enterprises to pour morecapital into Vietnam through channels such as the stock market, thus helpingVietnamese firms expand and promote sustainable trade and investment links.

Accordingto UAE Deputy Economic Minister Abdullah Al Saleh, his country has greatstrengths in infrastructure, technology and logistics services, along with manyincentive policies for FDI enterprises. It also serves as a transit point forcargo transport to many areas around the world.

The development of Vietnam's transport infrastructure such as seaports andairports will help strengthen trade ties between the two sides, he said.

According to the General Department of Customs, currently the UAE is the 10thlargest market of Vietnamese goods with over 60 commodity groups, includinghousehold electronics, footwear, textiles, and agricultural products.

Vietnamimports liquefied gas, material plastic, animal feed materials and manyconsumer products from the UAE./.