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Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien (right) meets with President of Côte d’Ivoire’s National Assembly Adama Bictogo in Hanoi on June 15. |
Vietnam can completely supply the African nation goods that it needs, Dien told his guest, suggesting the two nations accelerate their negotiations of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and a preferential trade agreement (PTA) as well as develop a better cooperation plan.
Côte d’Ivoire can serve as a bridge to help Vietnam and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) study the possibility of negotiating such agreements between the sides, the minister noted.
He went on recommending the two nations step up the exchange of all-level delegations and business delegations, encourage their firms to join trade expos in the other side, and consider promoting joint work in agricultural and food processing and mining.
In addition to rice, he suggested Côte d’Ivoire increase the import of goods of its demand and Vietnam’s strength such as textiles, footwear, household items, construction materials, machinery, and electrical equipment.
In response, Bictogo said that Côte d'Ivoire always considers Vietnam an important partner in the Asia-Pacific region, and wishes to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in all fields, especially economy and trade.
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An overview of the meeting |
Expressing his delight at positive progress made in the sides’ economic and trade ties with average annual bilateral trade reaching over 1 billion USD in the past five years, the top legislator lauded the Vietnamese ministry’s role in promoting the countries’ cooperation activities. He pledged tight collaboration with the ministry to carry out Dien’s proposals.
Bictogo said his nation is currently an important transit market, bringing goods to many countries in West Africa such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. This could facilitate Vietnam's strong products like farm produce, textiles, footwear, and household goods, to access many member markets of ECOWAS), the official added.
Côte d'Ivoire is one of the two leading rice export markets of Vietnam in Africa. In 2022, Vietnam exported 656,000 tonnes of rice worth nearly 295 million USD to the nation.
It is also one of the major suppliers of raw cashew nuts to Vietnam, with the latter’s spending on purchasing the product from the former usually accounting for 20% - 30% of its total raw cashew nut import value.
Source: VNA