The event attracted the direct participation of representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry and nearly 30 Israeli enterprises operating across diverse fields, including agricultural processing, telecom equipment, medical devices, water treatment, high-tech solutions for cybersecurity and applications in agriculture.
In her remarks, Deputy General Director of the Israel Export Institute Sabine Segal said that the conference is a platform for Israeli firms to learn about and access investment and business cooperation opportunities in the Vietnamese market in the post-COVID-19 period.
Many Israeli companies are interested in fostering business cooperation with the Vietnamese market and partners, she added.
For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Do Minh Hung emphasised that Vietnam has successfully controlled the pandemic and is implementing an array of new policies and measures to promote economic growth, attract foreign investment, and welcome a new wave of foreign firms’ shifting production to Vietnam in the post-pandemic period.
Vietnam has a lot of potential with its large market size and active participation in a network of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), he said, noting that Vietnam-Israel relations and cooperation are growing as the two sides actively negotiate a bilateral FTA.
The ambassador welcomed Israeli businesses to survey the Vietnamese market and seek investment and business cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese partners.
At the meeting, Vietnamese trade counselor Le Thai Hoa briefed participants on the business and investment environment in Vietnam, highlighting the country’s foreign trade activities, key export products and major export markets. He also provided information on the priority areas to attract foreign investment as well as incentives regarding corporate income tax, import tax and land rental for investors, while touching upon a number of specific policies undertaken by the Vietnamese Government to support and remove difficulties for firms’ production and business activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hoa highlighted trade exchange and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Israel, pointing out the opportunities for investment and business cooperation between the two countries’ business communities.
At the conference, representatives of Israeli companies raised direct questions and discussed issues of concern, focusing on seeking specific cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese partners.
Israel is Vietnam’s third largest export market in the Middle East. Two-way trade between Vietnam and Israel in 2019 reached US$1.156 billion, of which Vietnam exported US$774 million worth of products and imported US$382 million. In the first five months of 2020, Vietnam earned US$274 million from exporting goods to Israel and spent US$375 million importing products from there. To date, Israel has 31 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of US$78.99 million, ranking 50th out of the 135 countries and territories with investments in the Southeast Asian country.
