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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue with delegates attending the forum. (Source: VNA) |
On the afternoon of September 22, in the capital Dhaka, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended the Vietnam-Bangladesh Forum on policies and laws to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation.
The forum was organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangladesh in coordination with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), and the Vietnam Business Association in Bangladesh.
Attending the forum were members of the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly; leaders of FBCCI, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and many businesses, representatives of ministries and sectors of the two countries...
Speaking at the opening of the forum, Ms. Shomi Kaiser, Vice President of FBCCI, happily welcomed National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to officially visit Bangladesh and attend the forum.
Affirming that the highlight of bilateral relations is trade cooperation, Ms. Shomi Kaiser assessed that the trade and investment cooperation between the two countries is not commensurate with their potential. Currently, the two countries have not signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but Bangladesh has a large market and always wants to promote investment, business and trade cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit.
Ms. Shomi Kaiser said that Bangladesh is making efforts to realize “Vision 2041” of building a modern and knowledgeable country by 2041 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country, as well as implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bangladesh has information technology infrastructure, digital transformation, online banking, and the Bangladeshi business community is ready to cooperate with Vietnamese enterprises.
Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 reached 455 billion USD and the country is aiming for 1,000 billion USD in the near future. Green and clean technology is increasingly used in Bangladesh and is diverse.
The two countries have similarities in export markets, with Vietnam having a diverse range of export products. Bangladesh is working hard to overcome challenges to move out of the low-income group. In that spirit, Bangladesh wishes to share development experiences and enhance investment and trade cooperation in the future.
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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks. (Source: VNA) |
Speaking at the Forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that after more than 35 years of implementing the Renovation process and comprehensive, deep international integration, Vietnam has achieved important and historic achievements.
From a country deeply immersed in socio-economic crisis, since 1986, Vietnam has risen strongly, becoming a middle-income country, an economy with a high growth rate, continuously about 6%/year, a potential market with 100 million people, a rapidly growing middle class, an attractive investment destination, a safe and favorite place for international tourists.
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed that from a country under siege and embargo, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 193 countries and participated in more than 70 regional and international forums and organizations. From a country receiving humanitarian aid, Vietnam has now become a reliable and responsible partner in the region and the world, successfully fulfilling many international responsibilities. Vietnam is striving to implement the SDGs by 2030 and is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Implementing the National Assembly's resolution on an economic stimulus package of about 8.3% of GDP in 2 years, Vietnam has controlled the Covid-19 epidemic early, opened the economy, and quickly recovered and developed after the pandemic.
The National Assembly Chairman emphasized that even during the most severe period of the Covid-19 pandemic, when most of the world's economies experienced negative growth, Vietnam still had positive growth of 3% and low inflation. In 2022, GDP growth reached 8.02% and inflation was controlled at 3.15%, bringing the size of the economy at current prices to 410 billion USD, ranking 38th in the world.
Trade turnover in 2022 will reach 735 billion USD, in the Top 20 largest trade scale in the world. Vietnam also aims to strive for GDP growth of 6.5% and inflation of about 4% in 2023.
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that it is interesting that, similar to the goal set by Bangladesh, Vietnam has identified two major development goals for the country: By 2030, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern industry and high average income. By 2045, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam will become a developed country with high income.
To realize the above goals and aspirations, Vietnam identifies internal strength as the fundamental decision, harmoniously combining with external strength as important, creating a breakthrough for the development of an independent, self-reliant economy associated with proactive, active international integration increasingly deeper and deeper.
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that Vietnam always identifies the economic sector with foreign direct investment (FDI) as an important organic component of the economy and has a very attractive investment environment and investment incentives.
To date, Vietnam has attracted 37,000 FDI projects from 143 countries and territories with a total investment capital of nearly 450 billion USD, becoming one of the 20 most successful countries in attracting FDI in the world. In addition, Vietnam's public debt is low, equivalent to 40% of GDP.
In addition to a large, well-educated workforce and competitive production costs, Vietnam is currently participating in 16 FTAs, including many new-generation FTAs (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership - CPTPP, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership - RCEP, European Union-Vietnam FTA - EVFTA...) with more than 60 countries and territories.
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| Delegates attending the forum. (Source: VNA) |
The National Assembly Chairman stated: “The National Assembly and the Government of Vietnam always strive to perfect the synchronous economic institutions and feasible legal system and accompany businesses, considering the success of the business community as their own success... That is the consistent message we send to the domestic and international business community, including the Bangladeshi business community.
In the field of trade and economy, Vietnam identifies Bangladesh as an important partner and is currently Vietnam's second largest trade partner in the South Asia region, a potential investment destination for large Vietnamese corporations and enterprises in the future.
With its favorable geographical location, Bangladesh is considered a gateway for Vietnamese businesses to penetrate, access and continue to expand to other South Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
On the contrary, Bangladeshi businesses can see the importance of Vietnam to expand penetration into markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - the fifth largest market in the world with about 650 million people - and expand to partner countries with which Vietnam has FTAs.
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that in the current context of the global economy, with more than 270 million people, Vietnam and Bangladesh need to strengthen cooperation, facilitate trade for each other, strengthen connections between businesses of the two countries to maintain existing supply chains, attract capital and technology to develop new industrial supply chains with high added value, strengthen cooperation in agriculture and fisheries (especially rice and food), textiles, construction materials, infrastructure investment, e-commerce and digital economy development, Halal industry development and tourism, etc. The National Assembly Chairman said that on that basis, the two countries should soon strive to achieve a trade turnover of about 2 billion USD.
Appreciating Bangladesh for greening the textile industry and maintaining orders in the context of other countries' decline, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue hopes that the two countries will coordinate to develop the textile value chain on the basis of cooperation, not competition.
The National Assembly Chairman also suggested that businesses from both sides actively exchange and promote cooperation in the field of agriculture, especially clean agriculture, green agriculture adapting to climate change and aquaculture, including pearl farming and processing.
In particular, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue asked businesses and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry to urge the two countries to soon sign a new memorandum of understanding in the field of agricultural cooperation and extend the memorandum of understanding on aquaculture and livestock cooperation.
The National Assembly Chairman believes and hopes that at this forum, businesses will exchange, learn, and take advantage of cooperation and investment opportunities in each other's markets. The prospects for Vietnam-Bangladesh cooperation are still very large and depend largely on the dynamic, creative, and effective cooperation of businesses themselves; expressing his belief that the two sides will together write a new chapter for the next 50 years in bilateral relations with greater, more breakthrough, and more comprehensive results, bringing prosperity and happiness to the people of the two countries.
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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and delegates witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements in a number of fields. (Source: VNA) |
At the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue witnessed the signing ceremony of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between businesses of the two countries, including: Cooperation agreement between BMH Vietnam Company and Doreen Group Bangladesh on investment cooperation, technology transfer and development of pre-engineered steel production; Cooperation agreement between Bangladesh Vietnam Development Support Company and Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Association on pharmaceutical exchange; contract on establishing a tourism alliance between Huong Giang Aviation Services Joint Stock Company and Bangladesh Tourism Association.
Leaders of ministries, sectors and businesses of the two countries also focused on discussing and sharing content on policies and laws to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries; on promoting cooperation in traditional areas and cooperation prospects in new areas such as: digital economy, developing startup ecosystems, business ecosystems, creating connection points to realize cooperation opportunities between the two economies...
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