Creating new momentum for Vietnam - Poland economic, trade and investment cooperation

On the afternoon of January 17 (local time), in the capital Warsaw, within the framework of an official visit to Poland, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the Vietnam - Poland Business Forum.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the Vietnam - Poland Business Forum - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Also attending were members of the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation visiting Poland, Polish Minister of Economic Development and Technology Krystof Paszyk; and many representatives of the business communities of the two countries.

At the Forum, delegates reviewed the economic cooperation situation between the two countries; introduced the potential and demand for investment cooperation between the two countries; proposed tasks and solutions to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. In particular, they proposed areas of cooperation in which one side has strengths and the other side has needs.

Prime Minister: Businesses must strengthen connections, discussions, work, share experiences, and support each other to develop - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Among them, Poland is a bright spot in technology and industry. In particular, in the field of information technology, Poland is considered the information technology center of Europe with famous cities such as: Warsaw, Krakow, Wrolaw and Gdansk - where many large technology companies from startups to global corporations such as: Google, IBM, Microsoft...

Along with that, Poland is also known as a country with many achievements in developing mechanical engineering industry such as automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding, electronics and electrical machinery manufacturing; mining industry, petrochemicals and energy conversion with clean energy solutions and advanced green technology.

Meanwhile, in recent years, Vietnam has always been assessed by the international community as one of the most dynamic economies, always a bright spot in the economic picture of the region and the world; at the same time, it is a safe and attractive destination for foreign businesses, partners and investors.

The Prime Minister hopes that the business communities of the two countries will strengthen connections and cooperate more effectively, in the spirit of harmonious benefits and shared risks - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

In addition, Vietnam also has strengths in terms of large population, stable politics; guaranteed security; a young, abundant, dynamic human resource, capable of absorbing new science, technology and good integration, along with advantages in available production space and a large consumer market, especially nearly 6 billion consumers in 17 free trade agreements with more than 60 economies in the world.

Opinions at the Forum assessed that over the past time, the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Poland has become increasingly substantive, focused, and effective, creating momentum for economic, industrial, and trade cooperation to develop. In the past decade, not many countries in the European Union (EU) have maintained a continuous double-digit growth in two-way trade with Vietnam like Poland.

In the past 5 years, especially after the Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, import and export turnover between Vietnam and Poland has grown by an average of nearly 40% per year. This result has made Poland Vietnam’s most important trading partner in Central Eastern Europe, while Vietnam is Poland’s third trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that open economies like Poland and Vietnam need to strengthen cooperation, as well as ASEAN and EU cooperation will bring benefits to both sides - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Regarding investment, as of the end of October 2024, Poland ranked 21st out of 149 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 32 valid investment projects, total registered investment capital reaching 473 million USD, mainly in the form of 100% foreign capital. Vietnam has 4 investment projects in Poland with a total investment capital of 1.84 million USD, in the fields of services and processing industry.

In the coming time, businesses of the two countries will focus on cooperation to build a sustainable supply chain, striving to soon increase the trade turnover of the two countries to 5 billion USD by 2030 as the goal set by the two countries' senior leaders.

Polish businesses will invest more in Vietnam, especially in Poland's key industries that are suitable for Vietnam's sustainable development needs such as information technology, high-tech manufacturing and processing, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, transportation, finance and banking.

Speaking at the Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that after 75 years of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, the world has changed a lot, but the sincere feelings between the Vietnamese and Polish people have never changed and are increasingly deepening and becoming more substantial.

Therefore, the two sides have much to discuss and much to do with responsibility and honor to continuously consolidate and strengthen the friendly relations between the two peoples and countries. This is the command of the heart, the thought of the mind, for the benefit of the people, of the two countries and to contribute to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The Prime Minister assessed that to date, cooperation mechanisms between the two countries have been established, the largest of which is the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which has come into effect and the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) which is in the process of ratification.

Polish Minister of Economic Development and Technology Krystof Paszyk speaks - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

On the other hand, the Prime Minister also hopes that Vietnam will be a bridge to promote and connect cooperation between Poland, the EU and ASEAN. Vietnam supports Poland's participation in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) with ASEAN. The Prime Minister believes that this regional cooperation mechanism will be formed soon, so that both sides can benefit from it and make the most of it.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the political and diplomatic relations, friendship between the two countries, and the concern of the two peoples for each other are very sincere and trustworthy. During the exchange during this visit, Polish leaders all expressed their special affection for Vietnam, saying that the two countries have many things in common, and support and complement each other.

However, economic, trade and investment relations are not commensurate with the good political and diplomatic relations, and have not fully exploited the potential differences, outstanding opportunities and competitive advantages of the two countries.

The Prime Minister said that this is partly the responsibility of the leaders of the two countries and that connecting the two economies will have new ways and approaches to promote connections between the two countries' business communities, promoting complementary strengths in goods, technology, trade and investment.

Enterprises must strengthen connections, discuss, work, share experiences, and support each other to develop. The two governments are responsible for overcoming obstacles, perfecting mechanisms and policies, promoting their leading role, and creating trust for enterprises.

Sharing about Vietnam's strategic orientations and key tasks, the Prime Minister said that Vietnam is focusing on maintaining a peaceful, cooperative and development environment, creating a stable and favorable environment for production and business activities, building investment incentive mechanisms and policies, especially in high-tech fields, protecting people's health, and developing rapidly and sustainably.

Vietnam is promoting three strategic breakthroughs, in which institutional improvement is the "breakthrough of breakthroughs", cutting administrative procedures, streamlining the organizational apparatus, considering institutions as resources and driving forces, liberating resources, contributing to reducing compliance costs for businesses and people.

At the same time, making breakthroughs in building synchronous infrastructure, including transportation, healthcare, education, social infrastructure, etc., contributes to reducing logistics costs and increasing the competitiveness of goods.

Along with that, make breakthroughs in human resources, especially training high-quality human resources to meet the needs of businesses and investors, improve labor productivity; focus on emerging fields such as: green economy, digital economy, creative economy, knowledge economy, sharing economy, circular economy..., cloud computing, database, internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI); promote investment in training programs for 50,000 semiconductor engineers.

Prime Minister and delegates attending the Vietnam - Poland Business Forum - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The Prime Minister stated that in 2024, despite the very difficult situation, Vietnam will still achieve growth of more than 7%, ensure macroeconomic stability, control inflation, have strong export growth, attract foreign investment with positive results (registered capital of nearly 40 billion USD, disbursed about 25 billion USD), and well control public debt, government debt, foreign debt, and budget deficit.

In the coming time, Vietnam will realize its aspiration and vision to become a developing country with modern industry and high average income by 2030; and a developed country with high income by 2045. Therefore, Vietnam aims to achieve a growth rate of at least 8% in 2025 and double-digit growth in the following years, focusing on renewing traditional growth drivers (investment, consumption, export) and promoting new growth drivers in industries with higher scientific and innovation content.

The Prime Minister stated that Vietnam focuses on developing breakthroughs in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation; reforming the organizational apparatus to ensure "Refined - Lean - Strong - Effective - Effective - Efficient" associated with restructuring and improving the quality of civil servants; strengthening the development of inter-regional and international transport infrastructure; diversifying products, supply chains, and production chains to penetrate many different markets.

The Prime Minister emphasized the rich potential for economic, investment and trade cooperation between the two countries; hoped that the business communities of the two countries would strengthen their connections and cooperate more effectively, in the spirit of harmonious benefits, shared risks, listening and understanding, shared vision and action; working together, enjoying together, winning together and developing together; sharing joy, happiness and pride; making every effort for Poland and Vietnam. The Prime Minister hoped and called on Polish businesses to increase their investment in Vietnam for mutual benefit.

At the Forum, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien stated that Poland is a center for information technology, digital transformation, and industrial production such as shipbuilding and mechanical engineering. Meanwhile, Vietnam has the advantage of a large population, young workforce, the ability to quickly absorb technology, and available land for production, etc.

The Minister said that open economies like Poland and Vietnam need to strengthen cooperation, as well as ASEAN and EU cooperation will bring benefits to both sides.

For his part, Minister of Economic Development and Technology Krystof Paszyk shared the strengths of the Polish economy that the two sides can focus on for cooperation, and stated that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit affirmed the importance of promoting sustainable economic cooperation between the two countries. Poland will support Vietnam in expanding its trade and investment markets.

The two Ministers affirmed that the ministries and sectors of the two countries are ready to cooperate to facilitate and commit to supporting the business communities of the two countries to do business smoothly and successfully. In particular, the EVFTA has come into effect, and in the coming time, Poland will soon ratify the EVIPA, creating a new impetus for economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries in the new era.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/tao-xung-luc-moi-cho-hop-tac-kinh-te-thuong-mai-va-du-tu-viet-nam-ba-lan-159967.html