Conference seeks more opportunities for Vietnam-Guangxi trade cooperation

The Department of Commerce of China’s Guangxi province, in collaboration with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Asia-Africa Market Department and Vinexad Company, held a Guangxi-Vietnam trade and economic cooperation conference in Hanoi on January 12.

The event was held within the framework of a working visit from January 10-13 by a Guangxi delegation led by Diao Weihong, deputy director of the Department of Commerce. This is Guangxi’s first provincial-level delegation to Vietnam since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Vietnam has remained the Chinese province’s largest trade partner for 23 consecutive years, with two-way trade reaching over 172 billion RMB (25.5 billion USD) in the first 11 months of last year.

However, since the pandemic outbreak, the import-export turnover through border gates of Vietnam and Guangxi has reported continuous decreases.

For example, in the first 11 months of last year, the trade turnover with China through border gates of Lang Son province recorded a year-on-year fall of 39.4%, and that through Quang Ninh’s gates was down 68.7%.

To solve this problem, deputy head of the Asia-Africa Market Department To Ngoc Son proposed the Guangxi Department of Commerce work with the province’s relevant agencies to soon complete the process and regulations for people and imports and exports, and create maximum convenience for customs clearance activities.

Trinh Thi Bich Ngoc, deputy head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Department for International Relations, stated that VCCI is willing to coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to support Chinese enterprises to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Vietnamese partners.

This year, it plans to implement a number of activities to assist businesses in different provinces and cities to promote exports to the Chinese market and hopes to have the opportunity to cooperate with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Guangxi Department of Commerce in this work, she added.

Several trade cooperation agreements and contracts are expected to be signed within the framework of the conference.