Vietnam seeks to enhance trade with Brazil

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh wants trade with Brazil to top US$10 billion by 2025 and $15-20 billion by 2030.

Speaking with business executives during his official visit to the South American country Sunday, he said the trust and partnership between the two countries have been growing for almost 35 years since they established diplomatic relations and especially since 2007 when they formed a Comprehensive Partnership.

They are now each other’s biggest trade partners in their respective regions, with bilateral trade being worth $6.78 billion last year.

Though the figure has tripled in the last decade, Chinh said there is still much room to grow.

Businesses in both countries possibly lack information about the other and geographical distance is also an obstacle, but Vietnam could import cotton, soybean and corn from Brazil, and Brazil could buy footwear, garment, agriculture produce, and electronics from Vietnam, he said.

"Brazilian businesses can have peace of mind when partnering with Vietnamese businesses or investing in Vietnam."

He said Vietnam is currently focusing on three strategic breakthroughs: perfecting market economic institutions with socialist orientation; administrative reform, training high-quality human resources, meeting the labor needs of the new era; and developing infrastructure, especially transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, to help businesses reduce input costs and increase competitiveness.