Pham Hoang Kim, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and addressing the business community said that his country wanted to develop strong trade and economic relations with Pakistan as both countries have good potential to complement each other in many areas.
He said Vietnam has good expertise in producing hydropower and it could cooperate with Pakistan in this field. He said Pakistani pharmaceutical products, black pepper and many other products have good demand in Vietnamese market.
He said Vietnam and Pakistan should take part in each other's trade fairs and exhibitions that was the best way to improve bilateral trade relations.
He said that ICCI should share full detail of its expo being organized in April 2018 in Islamabad and he would try to bring Vietnamese businessmen to participate in that expo. He also invited ICCI delegation to visit Vietnam to explore new avenues of business prospects in Vietnamese market.
Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan and Vietnam enjoyed friendly relations, but their bilateral trade of around $500 million was far less than the actual potential of both countries that needed to be improved by strong efforts from both sides.
He said Pakistan and Vietnam have good potential to cooperate with each other in many areas including trade and investment, textiles & garments, energy, infrastructure development, automobiles, industry, agriculture, food processing, chemicals, information technology, pharmaceuticals, gems & jewelry, sports goods, education & health, air & sea connectivity, & banking, seafood and fish farming. He stressed that both countries should give private sectors leading role to exploit all untapped areas of mutual cooperation.
He said Vietnam's investors should visit Pakistan to explore JVs and investment in CPEC.
He said Pakistan could export oranges, mangoes, meat and many other products to Vietnam. He said that Pakistan and Vietnam should make joint efforts to identify impediments in two-way trade and take measures to further promote trade relations.
He said encouraging frequent exchange of business delegations and increasing cooperation among their respective chambers of commerce & industry and trade promotion bodies should be given more focus to improve two way trade up to the real potential of both countries.
Muhammad Naveed Senior Vice President and Nisar Mirza Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry thanked the Vietnam Ambassador for visiting ICCI and said that ICCI would like to work with Vietnamese Embassy to further improve their bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Vietnam.