Valentine Naidoo, a representative from South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry said that Vietnam has been identified as a large and important trade partner of South Africa over the past years. South African enterprises also consider Vietnam a potential market with large room to boost trade and investment in areas that the two sides have complementary advantages.
She noted that Vietnam is also an important gateway for goods from South Africa to approach and enter markets of Southeast Asia countries.
Deshan Naidoo, Director of Factocode Microfinishcompany that specialises in manufacturing auto components said that Vietnam has a growing manufacturing industry and high demand for industrial supporting products. Thus, many South African enterprises wish to establish partnerships with Vietnameseenterprises in fields, adding that South African businesses can assist Vietnam in technology transfer and human resource training for long-term development goals.
According to Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Bui Thi Thanh An, South Africa is the largest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa.
The two-way trade revenue between Vietnam and South Africa reached over US$1.1 billion in 2018 including over US$724 million worth of Vietnam’s export revenueto South Africa. Vietnam’s main export products to the country include phones, agricultural products, coffee and spices. Meanwhile, South Africa mainly exports wood and steel products to Vietnam with an estimated value of roughly US$386 million.
An said that Vietnam and South Africa still have large room to increase trade volume and promote investment and business cooperation as cooperation results during the past years have yet to match potential of both sides.
Therefore, the Vietnam’s MoIT and South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry have implemented many direct exchange activities to connect the two economies, helping expand markets and boost exports for the development of both sides, An noted.
