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Vietnam, Nigeria strengthen trade ties
Vietnam and Nigeria signed a deal in Hanoi on Oct. 22 to promote the trade relations between the business circles of the two countries.
The pact was inked in the framework of the first Vietnam-Nigeria Business and Investment Forum jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Vietnamese Trade Mission in Nigeria.
VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that Nigeria is considered as a potential market in Africa, adding that the full exploitation of this market is an important target of Vietnamese businesses.
Vietnam has exported products to Nigeria since 1995 and imported goods from the African country three years later. However, many of Vietnamese products have been exported to Nigeria through a third country.
VCCI is now building a trade portal with Vietnamese and English versions to foster the commercial relations with nine key markets in Africa, including Nigeria, Mr Loc said.
His view was shared by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Le Duong Quang, who put forth a number of measures to promote cooperation between the two countries’ businesses in the year to comes, including the increased exchange of visits and organisation of trade promotion activities, fairs and exhibitions in each country.
According to Nguyen Bich Van, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Department, Nigeria boasts large potentials in oil and gas, maritime shipping, agriculture and aquaculture. The department will improve mechanism for better bilateral cooperation and increase coordination with relevant agencies of Vietnam and Nigeria to remove difficulties and obstacles hindering Vietnam’s investment flow into the African country and vice versa.
Both Director of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Adesoji Adesugba, and Charge’ d’affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Hanoi, Sani Bako, said the forum was a chance for businesses from the two countries to discuss ways of cooperation and share business experiences.
Vietnam and Nigeria signed a trade agreement in 2001 which has created a favourable legal framework for businesses from the two nations. Two-way trade has grown constantly in recent years, from US$52.4 million in 2006 to US$55 million in 2007. The figure reached nearly US$46.7 million in the first half of this year.
VCCI plans to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Food Association to hold a meeting of rice sellers and buyers in Ho Chi Minh City in late November in order to set up a direct channel for food trading with 14 nations in Western and Central Africa.
VOV
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