Prime Minister: Removing bottlenecks, promoting Vietnam-EU economic cooperation

During the G20 Summit and bilateral activities in Brazil, on the afternoon of November 17 local time (early morning of November 18 Vietnam time), in Rio de Janeiro city, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the Vietnam - Brazil Business Forum.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Vietnam - Brazil Business Forum - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The forum was jointly organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment , the Vietnamese Embassy in Brazil, and the Rio de Janeiro Industry Federation, with the participation of Brazilian Minister of Rural Development Paulo Teixeira; Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Luciana Santos; Governor of Espirito-Santo State, Mr. Renato Casagrande; leaders of the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry... and members of the Vietnamese delegation, along with nearly 100 representatives of businesses from the two countries.

Mr. Rodrigo Santiago, Vice President of the Rio de Janeiro Industrial Federation, hopes that the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) will be signed as soon as possible - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Expectation that Vietnam - MERCOSUR FTA will be signed as soon as possible

According to information at the Forum, Brazil is currently Vietnam's leading trade partner in Latin America. In recent years, bilateral trade relations between Vietnam and Brazil have increased rapidly, from 1.53 billion USD in 2011 to more than 7.1 billion USD in 2023; reaching 6.58 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2024. The two countries strive to increase bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD in 2025 and 15 billion USD in 2030.

Vietnam mainly exports seafood, rubber, textiles, footwear, iron and steel to Brazil; and imports from Brazil soybeans, wheat, corn, animal feed and raw materials, cotton of all kinds...

Regarding investment, as of October 2024, Brazil has 7 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 3.85 million USD, mainly in the fields of manufacturing and processing industry, wholesale and retail, and scientific and technological activities. Vietnamese investors have 02 investment projects in Brazil with a total registered capital of 700,000 USD.

At the Forum, delegates and business communities of the two countries were introduced to the potential, strengths, and investment cooperation desires of each side; at the same time, solutions were proposed to promote cooperation between the two countries, especially in areas where one side has potential and strengths and the other side has needs.

Mr. Paolo Teixeira, Minister of Rural Development of Brazil, highly appreciated Vietnam's support and active participation in the initiative of the Global Alliance against Poverty - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Mr. Paolo Teixeira, Minister of Rural Development of Brazil, highly appreciated Vietnam's support and active participation in the initiative of the Global Alliance against Poverty; said that both countries are strong agricultural countries, in the context that many people and many countries still suffer from poverty, both sides need to continue to promote their roles and contribute to the world not only in trade, food supply but also in science and technology in agriculture.

Mr. Rodrigo Santiago, Vice President of the Confederation of Industry of Rio de Janeiro, expects the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) to be signed as soon as possible, given Vietnam's great potential, strategic position in Southeast Asia and as a bridge connecting Brazil with ASEAN.

A representative of the Embraer aviation group assessed Vietnam as one of the key and important partners in Asia - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Leaders of the Rio de Janeiro Industrial Federation, the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and representatives of Brazilian businesses such as the Embraer aviation group, assessed Vietnam as one of the key and important partners in Asia; said that Brazilian businesses want to promote cooperation with Vietnam in aviation, semiconductors, agriculture, rubber, fisheries, technology, innovation, etc.

Deputy General Director of Vietnam Chemical Group (Vinachem) Nguyen Huu Tu said that in 2024, the Group's estimated trade turnover in the Brazilian market will reach over 90 million USD, nearly 2 times higher than in 2021. The Group's tire and tube products under the brands of Danang Rubber and Southern Rubber have gained increasing trust from Brazilian consumers.

Brazil is an agricultural powerhouse with a huge demand for fertilizer imports. Vinachem is working with its partners to have a ship carrying tons of high-quality fertilizers and the first batches of detergents under the Vinachem brand to Brazil in 2024.

Deputy General Director of Vietnam Chemical Group (Vinachem) Nguyen Huu Tu speaks - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The Group also wishes to supply technical rubber products for Embraer's modern aircraft products; at the same time, it plans to import some products from Brazil such as ore, agricultural products... as production inputs to contribute to the effort to increase two-way trade turnover between the Group and Brazilian partners to 500 million USD by 2030.

The conditions, development space and cooperation between the two countries are very open.

Speaking at the Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that he had just had a very successful meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the two sides agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership.

According to the Prime Minister, on the basis of good political and diplomatic relations, the two countries have similar ideals, unique and close cultures, economies with complementary strengths, close and sincere feelings, and a common aspiration for peace and national development; the conditions and space for development and cooperation between the two countries are very open in many fields, especially in economics, trade, investment and promoting people-to-people exchanges and cultural cooperation. Notably, Brazil has a very large area, a market with large purchasing power with a population of more than 200 million people.

The Prime Minister asked businesses to support the above efforts to create an open and favorable investment environment, maximizing the unique potential, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages of each country - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

However, economic relations are not yet commensurate with the space, conditions for cooperation and the desires of both sides. The Prime Minister called on Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Brazil and Brazilian enterprises to invest more in Vietnam, promoting bilateral trade; especially agricultural cooperation, ensuring food security; renewing traditional growth drivers and promoting new growth drivers, cooperating with Vietnam in exploiting new development spaces such as outer space, sea space and underground space.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam aims to selectively attract investment in high-tech projects with high added value, spillover effects, and connections with domestic enterprises; prioritizing projects in the sectors and fields of science and technology, innovation, research and development, green economy, digital economy, circular economy, knowledge economy, semiconductor manufacturing, new energy (hydrogen), renewable energy, green finance, financial centers, biotechnology, healthcare, etc.

To remove bottlenecks to bring economic cooperation to the level of political and diplomatic relations and the wishes of both sides, the Prime Minister said that both sides need to promote the early launch of FTA negotiations with MERCOSUR, an agreement on investment promotion and protection, an agreement on visas, and Brazil should consider recognizing Vietnam's market economy status.

The Prime Minister asked businesses to support the above efforts to create an open and favorable investment environment, maximizing the unique potential, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages of each country.

For its part, Vietnam is promoting three strategic breakthroughs in institutional building, strategic infrastructure development and high-quality human resource training, following the orientation of "open institutions, smooth infrastructure, smart governance"; improving the investment and business environment, creating a public, transparent, equal and healthy business environment, reforming administrative procedures towards simplicity and speed, reducing logistics costs, input costs, compliance costs, and enhancing the competitiveness of products and businesses.

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

Assessing the existing opportunities and conditions, the legal environment is continuing to improve, the Prime Minister hopes that businesses of the two countries will promote connections with each other, connect the two economies, connect investment, connect trade, with the viewpoint of "harmonizing benefits, sharing risks", "listening and understanding together, sharing vision and action, doing together, winning together, enjoying together, developing together, sharing joy, happiness and pride".

The Prime Minister affirmed that he has hope and belief in more vibrant economic cooperation between the two countries, with new momentum, new vision and bringing new values, contributing to turning the aspirations of the two countries into reality, making each country increasingly rich and prosperous, the people increasingly prosperous and happy, the friendship between the two countries increasingly closely linked, effective and "forever green, forever sustainable".

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-thao-go-diem-nghen-dua-hop-tac-kinh-te-viet-nam-brazil-phat-trien-xung-tam-383280.html