HO CHI MINH: Vietnam and Malaysia have set a bilateral trade target of US$18bil by 2025.
Tran Phu Lu, deputy director of the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), said the city would continue to improve its business climate and streamline administrative reform, including creating favourable conditions for Malaysian investors.“The ITPC regularly organises activities to support city businesses, promote trade and investment, and expand export markets.
“Vietnam and Malaysia have vowed to strengthen cooperation in tourism, culture, science and technology, among other sectors,” the Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported he said in a meeting here on Monday.
Malaysia is one of Vietnam’s 10 largest traders. Bilateral trade reached nearly US$14.8bil (RM68.3bil) last year, with Vietnamese exports to Malaysia worth US$5.57bil (RM25.7bil) and imports worth US$9.1bil (RM42bil).
HCM City’s total imports and exports with Malaysia last year were estimated at over US$5.4bil (RM25mil), up 8% year-on-year.
According to VNA, as of the end of March, Malaysia had invested in 329 projects in HCM City for a total investment of nearly US$4.9bil (RM22.bil), ranking sixth out of 116 countries and territories investing in the city, reported Bernama.
The two countries are also members of several new-generation free-trade agreements, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).Key Vietnamese exports to Malaysia include machinery, equipment and their parts, computers, electronics and components, steel, petroleum and chemicals.The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1973 and upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2015.
