Mr. Vu Huy Hoang. Photo: VNN

Trade officials from Vietnam and China’s Hainan province on July 9 inked a memorandum of understanding following discussions, vowing to further boost the bilateral exchange of trade.

In the agreement signed with Governor Luo Baoming of China’s Hainan province, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang asked Hainan authorities to create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese exporters to ship more products - including rubber, seafood, rice, tropical fruit, footwear, handicrafts, and products made from coconuts - to the Chinese province.

The minister also said Vietnam encourages Hainan enterprises to invest in the country in such areas as seafood processing, coconut products and furniture and to cooperate with local enterprises in pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

At the signing ceremony, the two sides took stock of the implementation of the previous agreement signed in October 2008 on the occasion of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to the island province.

It helped lift two-way trade turnover to 270 million USD in 2008, a year-on-year rise of 6 percent.

The two sides have agreed on a direct flight route from Vietnam to Hainan and efforts are already been underway to launch a marine transportation line between Haikou city in Hainan and several ports in Vietnam.

Source: VNA