At the 2nd Session of the Vietnam-Bangladesh Trade Sub-Committee, Held in Hanoi on 27 December 2019 and Co-Chaired by Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung and Bangladesh’s Deputy Minister of Commerce Jafar Uddin, the Two Sides Discussed Measures to Further Boost Trade Cooperation and Agreed to Roll Out Steps to Promote Bilateral Trade Toward a Target of USD 2 Billion in the Coming Period.
At the meeting, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung and Bangladesh’s Deputy Minister of Commerce Jafar Uddin agreed that trade cooperation between the two countries had seen positive developments in recent times. However, the results achieved in practice still fall short of the two countries’ potential and diplomatic relationship.
Statistics from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade show that total bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Bangladesh reached only about USD 810 million in 2018, down roughly 10% from 2017; in the first 11 months of 2019, total bilateral trade turnover reached just over USD 700 million, of which Vietnam’s imports from Bangladesh were about USD 64 million, mainly pharmaceuticals, seafood, and garment and footwear materials; exports to Bangladesh were worth USD 647 million, mainly clinker, cement, garments and textiles, and footwear.
Speaking at the meeting, Bangladesh’s Deputy Minister of Commerce Jafar Uddin said Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. The two sides have maintained traditional diplomatic relations for more than 40 years. Bangladesh regards Vietnam as an important trade partner. The two countries still have great potential to expand economic, trade and investment cooperation. The Bangladeshi government has adopted a policy of expanding areas of economic, trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam.
To promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, both sides agreed that continuing the Trade Sub-Committee mechanism would play an important role. At the session, the two sides discussed orientations and measures to connect the two economies and support each other’s development in fields where both sides have strengths and a shared need for cooperation, amid a global trade environment marked by rising new protectionism, especially among major economies.
The two sides agreed on the content of the meeting, emphasizing measures to further promote trade cooperation in rice (Vietnam) and jute (Bangladesh), among others; cooperation on trade promotion; cooperation in machinery; cooperation on information and communications; and cooperation on agriculture and tourism.
The two sides agreed to implement measures to boost bilateral trade relations toward a turnover target of USD 2 billion in the coming period. To reach this goal sooner, the two sides agreed to coordinate measures to help businesses from both countries expand trade in goods, including Vietnamese rice exports to Bangladesh and Bangladeshi potato exports to Vietnam, among others. At the same time, they agreed to create favorable conditions for the two business communities to strengthen cooperation, support business matching, and expand trade in goods.