Vietnam, Mexico to promote trade, investment cooperation

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai (L) and Mexican Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Juan Carlos Baker sign agreement documents at the meeting - Credit: moit.gov.vn

The information was announced at the first working session of the Vietnam - Mexico Joint Committee on Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation, held in Hanoi, on November 7.

The event, co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Mexican Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Juan Carlos Baker, aimed to promote cooperation opportunities and create new impetus in the economic development of both countries.

Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai valued the trade relations between the two countries, noting that Mexico is currently the third largest trade partner of Vietnam in Latin America, with increasing import-export revenue between the two countries.

Hai added that the two-way trade revenue between Vietnam and Mexico reached over US$2.2 billion in the first nine months of 2017, of which Vietnam posted over US$1.8 billion worth of export revenue to Mexico and US$405.3 million worth of import revenue from Mexico.

The official stated that Vietnam and Mexico have favourable conditions for economic and political cooperation at present, as both countries are active members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and have signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).

At the working session, the two sides focused their discussions on issues related to trade promotion, animal and plant quarantine and sanitary measures, intellectual property, services, and others.

In addition, the two sides discussed the establishment of a regular dialogue mechanism to review and determine measures to promote trade and investment cooperation and the exchange of business delegations.

In particular, Vietnam suggested that Mexico should consider the removal of the temporary suspension on imports of Vietnamese shrimps products, including dried shrimp, preliminarily processed shrimp, and frozen shrimp.

Vietnam also suggested that Mexico intensify its cooperation in the rice sector, as well as considering the possibility of periodically informing the Vietnam contingent of Mexico's quota on rice imports.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese side shared information on the changes of policy and legal documents on trade defence and cooperation in the building and improvement of capacity in the areas of trade, technology transfer, and hi-tech agriculture.

Mexican Deputy Minister Juan Carlos Baker said that Mexico was interested in boosting trade in the areas of health products (medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology) and Mexican agricultural products exported to Vietnam.

He suggested that the two sides soon conclude negotiations on the signing of an agreement on animal and plant quarantine.

The Mexican side also paid attention to promoting the bilateral cooperation on intellectual property, specialised services, information exchange, information technology and financial services.

The Vietnam - Mexico Joint Committee on Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation was established in early 2016 to promote information exchange on potential sectors, propose measures to remove barriers to trade and investment, and foster cooperation in capacity building and training in the areas of trade and investment.