Economic, trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Iran will grow more and more.

On the morning of August 9 (local time), within the framework of an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended and spoke at the Policy and Law Forum on promoting economic , trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Iran.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue with delegates. (Source: VNA)

The forum was organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, the Embassy of Vietnam in Iran in coordination with the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture with the participation of members of the high-ranking delegation of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

On the Iranian side, there were Chairman of the Economic Committee of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Iran-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group Pour Ebrahimi; Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry and Mines Talar Poshti; Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture Hossein Selahvarzi; Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Mehdi Safari and hundreds of delegates from leading businesses of the two countries.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony for National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly on an official visit to Iran and to attend the forum, Chairman of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture Hossein Selahvarzi said that the two countries have great potential for economic and trade cooperation. The Vietnamese market and the Iranian market are complementary to each other. The governments and parliaments of both countries support economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

However, economic and trade cooperation is not yet commensurate with political and diplomatic relations, requiring both sides to make more efforts to find solutions to promote cooperation.

Mr. Selahvarzi, Chairman of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) speaks. (Source: VNA)

Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Industry and Mines Committee Talar Poshti said that both the Iranian Parliament and the Iranian Government are working on solutions to overcome difficulties. Iran has many programs and plans to promote cooperation with Vietnam and will certainly promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Iranian Parliament Pour Ebrahimi expressed his impression of Vietnam's socio-economic achievements; affirmed that the Government and people of Iran wish to develop economic and trade relations with Vietnam. He hoped that the visit of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue would open a new chapter for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks. (Source: VNA)

Speaking at the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue highly appreciated and thanked the Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce for closely coordinating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies of the Vietnamese National Assembly to organize the forum; emphasizing that this is an important activity within the framework of this official visit to Iran.

Sharing the results of the visit, the National Assembly Chairman believed that economic, trade and investment activities between the two countries would increasingly develop in line with the good political and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The National Assembly Chairman assessed that the Vietnam-Iran relationship is developing well, reflected in three factors: mutual affection and respect; development in many aspects from politics, diplomacy to economy, trade, culture; and the two sides actively cooperate and support each other in multilateral forums.

The National Assembly Chairman expressed his joy that Iran, despite being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption of global supply and investment chains, still stands firm and develops, continuing to maintain its status as one of the largest economies in the region.

With its unique geographical location, Iran - also known as the legendary land of Persia - is considered a country with an important strategic position, a proud long history of development and an increasingly diversified economy.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is emerging as one of the most attractive investment-tourism destinations in Asia with rapid developments in socio-economic development and international integration.

Providing information about Vietnam's situation after 37 years of implementing the renovation and international integration process, the National Assembly Chairman emphasized that Vietnam has initiated and persistently implemented the renovation process to bring the country out of the severe economic and social crisis, becoming a country with a GDP scale at current prices of 410 billion USD (in 2022), ranking 38th in the world, third in Southeast Asia, 10th in Asia and 24th in the world.

In 2023, Vietnam strives to achieve a growth rate of 6.5% and control inflation at about 4.5%/year (maintained at 3.15% in 2022).

Delegates attending the forum. (Source: VNA)

Vietnam is also a leading country in implementing the United Nations' millennium goals, actively implementing the United Nations' SDG sustainable development goals by 2030, and at COP26, Vietnam made a strong commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Vietnam has set two 100-year goals: by 2030, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnam will become a country with a fairly developed industry and an upper-middle income; by 2045, when the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country, it will become a developed country with a high income.

To realize that aspiration for power, Vietnam is making strong and comprehensive reforms, synchronously implementing three strategic breakthroughs: in economic institutions, in the quality of human resources, science and technology, education and training, and in infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure.

Vietnam is now an attractive destination for international tourists, and a safe and attractive destination for foreign investors. From a country whose exports were barely enough to cover imports and whose revenue was not enough to cover expenses, today Vietnam's import-export turnover in 2022 has reached 735 billion USD, becoming one of the 20 countries with the largest total trade in the world.

Regarding foreign investment, to date, Vietnam has attracted more than 37,000 foreign investment projects with a total registered capital of 450 billion USD, ranked by the United Nations as one of the 20 most successful countries in attracting FDI in the world.

Agreeing with the delegates’ comments, the National Assembly Chairman emphasized that Vietnam and Iran have economies that do not compete directly, but complement and support each other. Vietnam highly appreciates Iran’s position and role in the region, especially Iran’s potential in science and technology, economic scale, population, and innovative startups. The two countries can fully cooperate with each other to bring economic, trade and investment relations commensurate with the very good political and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The National Assembly Chairman said that in the immediate future, the two sides need to remove obstacles and difficulties to soon realize the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover in the near future; continue to perfect existing legal and institutional frameworks and continue to innovate to create favorable conditions for businesses and investors of the two countries.

Currently, the two sides have built a number of important cooperation frameworks such as the Joint Economic and Trade Committee, whose 10th meeting will be held in the third quarter of this year, to help the two countries overcome difficulties and obstacles and soon increase trade turnover.

The National Assembly Chairman believes: “With the efforts of the business communities of the two countries, on the basis of the creation of the National Assembly and Government of the two countries, the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries will increasingly develop.” (Source: VNA)

The National Assembly Chairman suggested that the two sides should promote working groups on trade and payment exchanges. The two countries have also signed many agreements on double taxation avoidance, judicial and customs assistance, and memorandums of understanding on technological and educational cooperation.

During this visit, many agreements and memorandums of understanding were also signed, especially the cooperation agreement between the legislative bodies of the two countries, cooperation on animal and plant quarantine, cooperation in the field of product quality measurement standards, and cooperation on culture and education, which will be signed on the afternoon of August 9.

The National Assembly Chairman believes that the immediate difficulties and long-term foundations for cooperation between businesses of the two countries will be resolved step by step in an effective manner, contributing to accelerating economic and social development and contributing to the common achievements of both countries.

The National Assembly Chairman affirmed the commitment of the Vietnamese National Assembly to continuously strive to improve the legal system, remove obstacles for foreign investors operating in Vietnam, and consider the success of foreign investors in Vietnam as its own success.

“The two countries’ National Assemblies will work together to promote and supervise the Government in completing and implementing the agreements that have been signed and will be signed in the coming time to further strengthen bilateral relations in many fields, especially economic, trade and investment relations.” Emphasizing this, the National Assembly Chairman also encouraged and supported the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of both sides to have cooperation activities, organize many business delegations to visit, learn about the environment, investment and business opportunities between the two countries, connect localities with localities, connect businesses with businesses.

The National Assembly Chairman believes: “With the efforts of the business communities of the two countries, on the basis of the creation of the National Assembly and Government of the two countries, the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries will increasingly develop.”

The National Assembly Chairman also discussed and shared with the Iranian business community Vietnam's new, breakthrough visa policies that will take effect from August 15 this year to create favorable conditions for foreign investors to explore cooperation opportunities in Vietnam, promote people-to-people exchanges, tourism, etc. The two countries are also promoting the opening of a direct flight from Tehran to Hanoi.

The National Assembly Chairman wished that the cooperation and search for cooperation opportunities between the two countries within the framework of this forum and the connection between businesses of the two countries in the coming time would increasingly develop, and wished that Iranian businesses would find long-term cooperation opportunities in Vietnam.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/quan-he-kinh-te-thuong-mai-dau-tu-giua-viet-nam-va-iran-se-ngay-cang-phat-trien-237788.html