Ministry of Industry and Trade: Connecting Vietnamese and Saudi Arabian businesses

On the morning of October 24, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinated with relevant units to organize a trade seminar between Vietnamese and Arab business delegations.

The B2B Matching session was organized by the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) in coordination with the Vietnam - Saudi Arabia Cultural Exchange and Trade Promotion Center to promote trade and investment cooperation between Vietnamese and Saudi enterprises.

Imports and exports to the Middle East and Africa are increasing rapidly.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop, Mr. Tran Thanh Hai - Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - said that Vietnam is integrating more and more deeply into the world economy with 17 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed. In the process of economic development, Vietnam attaches importance to attracting and effectively using foreign direct investment (FDI).

Overview of the Workshop

The Vietnamese government has taken many measures to improve the investment environment, creating favorable conditions for foreign enterprises to invest and do business in Vietnam. These efforts, along with effective measures to attract FDI, have helped FDI capital into Vietnam increase sharply over the years, reaching 438.7 billion USD by the end of 2023, making it one of the top 20 countries attracting the most FDI in the world.

Huge market potential, favorable policy mechanisms, and impressive socio-economic achievements have made Vietnam one of the important cooperation partners in Asia of Middle Eastern countries.

However, currently, investment capital from the Arab region accounts for less than 1% of total FDI projects in Vietnam, with capital accounting for only 0.21% of total FDI capital. These results are still quite modest, not commensurate with the potential for cooperation between Vietnam and the Middle East and Africa.

Meanwhile, economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and the Arab countries of the Middle East and Africa has continued to develop positively in recent times, with the structure of import and export goods being complementary to each other. Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the Middle East and Africa has increased more than 10 times since 2005, reaching 2 billion USD in 2005 to 20.8 billion USD in 2023.

Political and social fluctuations in the Middle East and Africa have had certain impacts on Vietnam's export activities to these markets. However, Vietnam's total import and export turnover to these countries is increasing rapidly (up 27.3%), ranking second to the American market (up 28.3%). This is an encouraging sign for Vietnam's import and export prospects with Middle Eastern and African countries in the following years.

Bộ Công Thương: Kết nối giao thương doanh nghiệp Việt Nam và Ả Rập

Mr. Tran Thanh Hai - Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) spoke at the Workshop

According to Mr. Tran Thanh Hai, cooperation in trade and investment between Vietnam and Arab countries in the Middle East and Africa has great potential thanks to the complementary advantages and needs between the parties in the fields of energy and infrastructure, real estate, tourism as well as industry and processing.

Currently, Vietnam’s exports to the Middle East and Africa focus on items such as rice, coffee, pepper, and seafood. Vietnam’s garments, footwear, electronics, and household goods have great potential in this market, especially in countries with young populations and a growing middle class. In return, Vietnam can import oil, natural gas, and petrochemical products from the Middle East to serve its domestic economic development needs. African countries also provide large volumes of raw materials such as cotton, wood, and minerals, meeting the production needs of Vietnam’s industries.

Middle Eastern and North African countries have high demand for imported Halal food due to limitations in agricultural production, with a Muslim population accounting for more than 40%, and consumption of Halal products, especially processed foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, is increasing. Meanwhile, Vietnam has strengths in the production of agricultural products, seafood, processed foods and is making efforts to improve standards to meet Halal requirements. In addition, Vietnam has a policy of developing relations with Middle Eastern and African countries; including promoting cooperation in import production and Halal certification. This is also a favorable condition for Vietnamese enterprises to export products to the Halal market.

In the field of logistics and maritime transport, with its strategic location, Vietnam can become a transit point for goods between Asia and the Middle East. Cooperation with leading logistics companies in the Middle East, such as DP World, will help improve the efficiency of the supply chain in the region, as well as between Vietnam and the Middle East and North Africa. "Currently, some leading corporations in this region are present in Vietnam in the field of seaports and warehouse systems such as BW Group, contributing to enhancing transportation capacity, serving trade activities between regions," said Mr. Tran Thanh Hai.

Share opportunities, business cooperation

Speaking at the Workshop, Mr. Bassam Tabajah - Chairman of the Arab Business Forum - said that in recent years we have achieved many achievements, especially in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure, engineering and we want to further extend this success in Vietnam.

“The Halal industry has many opportunities and potentials and we look forward to further cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises in the future. In addition, we also look forward to cooperation in many different areas such as infrastructure, import and export, etc.”, Mr. Bassam Tabajah shared and hoped for effective cooperation in the future.

Ambassador Nguyen Quang Khai - Former Ambassador of Vietnam to Iraq, UAE and some Middle Eastern countries - also shared about the great achievements in all aspects, especially in economy and trade of Vietnam after more than 35 years of renovation. Regarding the relationship between Vietnam and other countries, we have established diplomatic relations with 193 countries, of which 18 are strategic partners (8 are comprehensive strategic partners). Vietnam also has trade relations with 124 countries and territories around the world. With political stability, countries around the world look to Vietnam as an investment destination.

“ In 2023, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and Israel was signed. Arab businesses are very interested in Vietnam and want to invest and cooperate with Vietnamese businesses,” Mr. Nguyen Quang Khai shared.

B2B Matching session between Vietnamese and Saudi businesses

At the Workshop, businesses from both regions and participating businesses introduced brief, general information about themselves, including: Business name, business field and desired cooperation goals. In addition, a B2B Matching session took place between businesses from both countries, as well as a signing ceremony of memorandums of understanding (MOU) between partners.

Mr. Tran Thanh Hai said that within the framework of Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision, Saudi Arabian Logistics (SAL) was born with a strategy to promote the country's economic transformation by becoming a global transport logistics center, managing world-class goods by air, road, and sea, connecting 3 continents: Asia - Europe - Africa...

Signing ceremony of memorandums of understanding (MOU) between partners

Together with the Vietnam - UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA Agreement) which has concluded negotiations and is awaiting ratification, these are good opportunities for the Vietnamese business community and the Arab business community in the Middle East and Africa to strengthen trade, investment and logistics cooperation in the coming time. " Today's workshop will be an opportunity for businesses from the two regions to meet, exchange and seek cooperation opportunities and expand the market in the future," said Mr. Tran Thanh Hai.