Organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Kazakh Embassy in Hanoi, the forum aimed to seek investment and cooperation opportunities between Kazakh and Vietnamese enterprises.
More than 50 Vietnamese enterprises operating in various fields such as oil and gas, agriculture, and tourism took part in the Vietnam-Kazakhstan business forum, all wanting to seek cooperation opportunities with Kazakhstan.
Hoang Thi Phong Thu, CEO, Anh Duong Tourism Company said: It takes only 6 hours to travel from Kazakhstan to Vietnam. There’s great potential for attracting Kazakh tourists to Vietnam. We hope that more favorable conditions will be created to lure Kazakh tourists, such as visa exemptions and the like.
Also on this occasion, Head of the EXPO-2017 trade promotion delegation introduced the Astana EXPO-2017 to Vietnamese enterprisea. Themed “Future Energy”, the Expo is expected to welcomeexhibitors operating with eco-friendly energy sources.
Nurbek Yergeshbayev, Deputy Head, International Relations Department, Astana EXPO-2017 said: Besides the Astana Expo-2017, we also introduced imprtant Kazakh projects that are calling for investment cooperation. Kazakhstan’s government is also creating favorable conditions to boost cooperation with Vietnam.
Kazakhstan has great potential for Vietnamese exports. With a population of only 17 million people, Kazakhstan’s GDP reached more than 240 billion USD last year. The country’s annual total import value was more than 40 billion USD. In addition, under the recently-signed free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, Vietnam will enjoy export tariff incentives for many sectors.
Duong Hoang Minh, Deputy Head, European Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade said: As soon as the FTA comes into effect, about 90% of tariffs will be reduced or eliminated. This is a good opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to penetrate Kazakhstan’s market.
According to the Vietnam General Department of Customs, trade between the two countries was almost 230 million USD in 2014, with with Vietnamese exports accounting for 219 million USD, up 42 percent year-on-year. Exports consisted primarily of cell phones and electrical parts, machinery and farm produce. Imports also doubled, including ore and minerals./.
