Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on Brazilian enterprises to beef up trade and investment activities in Vietnam to fully tap the great cooperation potential between the two countries, with the aim of boosting two-way trade to US$10 billion by 2025. 

PM Chinh was speaking at a powwow with representatives of Brazilian businesses in Sao Paulo on Sunday morning (local time) after he and his entourage arrived a day earlier for a four-day official visit at the invitation of President Lula da Silva.

“The political relationship between our two countries is very good, but trade and investment relations are still not comparable, as there is still a lot of room for cooperation that has yet to be tapped,” the PM said at the event.

Last year, the trade turnover between the two countries reached $6.78 billion, with Vietnam mainly importing from Brazil.

Such bilateral trade remained modest as Brazil is the largest South American country with a population of 214 million people, Chinh commented.

The Vietnamese government leader affirmed that Vietnam is actively negotiating free trade agreements, investment protection, and avoidance of double taxation to facilitate bilateral cooperation with Brazil.

He called on businesses from both sides to build cooperation mechanisms into specific programs and projects, trying their best to bring two-way trade to $10 billion by 2025 and $15-20 billion by 2030 in a more balanced direction.

The PM urged Brazilian businesses and their Vietnamese counterparts to foster understanding and fill gaps in information to promote both trade and investment relations commensurate with the potential and aspirations of the two countries.

Both countries have products that can complement each other, with Vietnam exporting footwear, leather, textiles, farm produce, and more to Brazil, while Brazil's main exports to Vietnam include ores and minerals, cotton, animal feed, and raw materials and accessories for the textile, garment, and footwear industries, Chinh said.

Regarding the fact that the two nations are far away, the PM said geographical distance is no longer a major obstacle nowadays, for aviation and maritime services are developing rapidly and Vietnam has many international transshipment ports.

Affirming that Vietnam fully supports the opening of an office of the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, Chinh asked Brazilian and Vietnamese businesses to further promote the transfer of science and technology.

With the current atmosphere of good bilateral political relations, the PM hoped that more and more Brazilian enterprises would invest and do business in Vietnam in the ‘win-win’ spirit based on the principle of ‘harmonious benefits, shared risks.'   

A free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR for its Spanish initials, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) has not yet been signed, but trade between both sides has increased sharply in recent years, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, who also attended the powwow, commented.

Dien therefore hoped that the FTA would be inked soon to make Vietnam a gateway for Brazil to enter Southeast Asia’s market of 600 million people, while turning Brazil into an entrance for Vietnamese businesses to move deeper into Latin America.

The minister also suggested Brazilian businesses increase the supply of raw materials to Vietnam, especially new industries such as semiconductor technology.

PM Chinh left Sao Paulo at noon on Sunday for the Brazilian capital Brasilia to meet leaders of the Brazilian Communist Party and the Vietnam - Brazil Friendship Association.

The official welcoming ceremony by Brazilian President Lula da Silva for Chinh and the talks between the two leaders have been scheduled for Monday.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!