Coffee remained the largest earner which saw a shipment of over 35,300 tons for about USD 76 million (up 12.8 percent), followed by telephones and spare parts valued at USD 58 million (up 5 percent). Rice came third with exports worth of over USD 10 million, jumping five-fold from the same period last year.

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Rice for exports to Algeria. (Photo for illustration)

Algeria is now Vietnam’s second largest importer in Africa, after South Africa.

Vietnam’s shipments to Algeria were estimated at USD 271.42 million in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent with most of the revenue also coming from coffee and rice.

Last year, Vietnam’s trade office in Algeria organized an array of trade promotion activities, including five workshops on bilateral trade potential. It also assisted two delegations of Vietnamese businesses to attend international fairs and stepped up communication activities there such as publishing business news bulletins in French.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also sent staff members to Algeria to work with local ministries and agencies, seeking ways to boost cooperation in the time ahead.

Vietnam-Algeria economic cooperation prospects are plentiful, with Algerian consumers familiar with Vietnamese goods, while Algerian animal feed, medicine and natural minerals are sold in Vietnam.

In terms of investment, the Bir-Seba gas and oil joint venture between Petro Vietnam, Sonatrach (Algeria) and PTT (Thailand) became operational in 2015, producing 18,000 barrels each day.

Source: VNA