Vietnam, Russia have abundant room to boost bilateral trade

Vietnam and Russia will coordinate to hold more seminars and exhibitions to disseminate information on the strengths of the two countries and to promote exports to both markets.

At the meeting between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (Photo: congthuong.vn)
At the meeting between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (Photo: congthuong.vn)

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai made the statement at the working session with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation in Hanoi on March 14.

The Vietnamese official also affirmed that, the relationship between Vietnam and Russia is of special significance and receives great attention from senior leaders of both countries.

Deputy Minister Hai said that, after the effectiveness of the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VN-EAEU FTA) in 2016, the bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia has seen positive growth.

Notably, the bilateral trade revenue in 2018 increased by 28.63% compared to 2017 and Russia's exports to Vietnam reached US$2.1 billion in 2018, up 53.38% over the previous year.

Vietnam and Russia have witnessed strong trade growth at an average of 30% per year since the signing of the trade deal.

Russia also ranked 24th among 129th countries and territories investing in Vietnam in 2018, with 123 projects worth a total of US$932 million. Vietnam also has 22 projects in Russia, with a total investment of nearly US$3 billion.

President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Sergey Katyrin said that more and more Russian enterprises have shown their interest in Vietnam. With a system of more than 180 branches of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry across the country, Russia always creates favourable conditions for enterprises to seek business opportunities and support them to participate in exhibitions in Vietnam to promote their products and strengths.

Deputy Minister Hai and President Sergey Katyrin agreed that there remains large room for boosting bilateral trade between the two countries to match the potential and fine relationship of both sides.

Thus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will implement more trade promotion activities in the Russian market in 2019 while helping enterprises take advantage of the VN-EAEU FTA.