Vietnam offers cooperation in textiles, rice production

KARACHI: Nguyen Tien Phong, Ambassador of Vietnam in Pakistan, on Friday proposed that building partnership in textiles and rice production would help two nations strike new avenues in world trade.

“Business communities of both sides should not think that being big producers and competitors in rice and textiles, we cannot cooperate,” Ambassador Phong said talking to the officials of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry at their office.

In fact, he emphasised, “we can beautifully complement each other for a win-win mechanism”.

He also expressed his profound and enthusiastic desire that Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Pakistan and Vitnam should be signed through fast-tracking the initiative and implemented effectively to multiply the trade volumes.

Phong added that he would certainly relay the concerns and suggestions on visa regime back to their ministry’s head office in Vietnam and he also wanted the duration of business visas for Pakistani businessmen increase from six months to one year.

The Vietnamese envoy maintained that the bilateral trade volume of $600 million per year was just not sufficient and it could be taken to $5-10 billion given the true potential for exponential growth over the upcoming years.

For this he strongly emphasized on the visits of businessmen from Pakistan to Vietnam and vice versa.

Hanif Lakhany, Vice President FPCCI, expressed his desire to expand trade relations with Vietnam as there was untapped potential in a number of sectors.

Lakhany proposed that Vietnam should consider investing in smartphone and computer chips, parts and accessories, in Pakistan being one of the most advanced large-scale producers in the sector.

Suleman Chawla, SVP-elect of FPCCI for 2022, said the chamber would do its best to strengthen and enrich economic and commercial ties between the two countries.