At the meeting, Deputy Minister Truong Thanh Hoai briefed Ambassador Daouda BITIE on Viet Nam’s economic development achievements in 2025. Trade was a particularly bright spot, reaching a record 920 billion USD, up 17% compared with 2024; export turnover reached 470 billion USD, while imports amounted to 450 billion USD.
Regarding international economic integration, Viet Nam has signed, implemented and is negotiating a total of 19 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), 17 of which have already been signed. Deputy Minister Truong Thanh Hoai affirmed that Viet Nam is a market with great potential for Burkina Faso to promote cooperation in trade, industry, and energy. He also highly appreciated the achievements that Burkina Faso has achieved under the leadership of H.E. Ibrahim TRAORE.
With regard to trade relations with Burkina Faso, Deputy Minister Truong Thanh Hoai noted that the average import-export turnover between the two countries during the 2020–2024 period reached nearly 95 million USD/year. However, this figure remains disproportionate to the potential of both sides. Each country’s exports to the other currently account for only a small share, less than 0.05%. Industrial cooperation remains limited and requires further orientation and support to better connect enterprises.
To promote bilateral trade cooperation with a basis on promoting the potential and strengths of each economy, Deputy Minister Truong Thanh Hoai proposed that the two sides coordinate the implementation of several cooperation contents, including: promoting exchanges of delegations at various levels to provide each other with information on markets, mechanisms, and economic-trade policies; organising trade promotion activities in each other’s markets; and inviting organisations and enterprises from Burkina Faso to participate in Viet Nam’s annual international trade events.
The two sides were also encouraged to promote trade in potential sectors where Viet Nam has advantages and Burkina Faso has strong demand, such as rice, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, construction materials, household goods, and textiles; and to study cooperation in industrial fields such as mining, textiles, agro-food processing, chemicals, and fertilisers, as well as ensuring food security.
Ambassador Daouda BITIE expressed his pleasure at Viet Nam’s achievements. He stated that Burkina Faso has recently carried out a comprehensive revolution and wishes to deepen its economic and trade cooperation with Viet Nam. Burkina Faso is studying and learning from Viet Nam’s experience in national construction and development, prioritising spearhead sectors such as agriculture and basic industrial production, along with investment attraction and technical and technological transfer. Burkina Faso currently has strong demand for importing rice and petroleum products as well as for the production of motorcycles and spare parts to serve the domestic market.
Acknowledging the proposals of Ambassador Daouda BITIE, Deputy Minister Truong Thanh Hoai proposed that, with regard to rice trade cooperation, the two sides study the possibility of negotiating a memorandum of understanding, assigning the Import and Export Department as the focal point for implementation on behalf of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam. For other products, the Deputy Minister invited the Burkina Faso side to organise a working delegation to Viet Nam, combined with facilitating enterprises’ participation in trade fairs and exhibitions, so that the Ministry of Industry and Trade can support business connectivity.
