A worker of the Ha Long Viglacera Co in the northern Quang Ninh Province stacks newly- made bricks for exports to Cambodia. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Dan
AN GIANG — Vietnamese and Cambodian firms would gain valuable insights into business dealings in either country through increased interaction and exchange of views and experiences, a senior official of An Giang Province said last Saturday.
Vuong Binh Thanh, deputy chairman of the An Giang People's Committee, told a seminar held in the Mekong Delta province that this would, in turn, enhance bilateral trade between the two countries.
The seminar was attended by nearly 50 Vietnamese and Cambodian enterprises seeking to exchange their business profiles.
An Giang has great advantages in boosting economic cooperation with Cambodian provinces because it shares a border of almost 100km with the neighbouring kingdom, not to mention the Vinh Xuong and Tinh Bien border gates, Thanh said.
The province had implemented many trade promotion programmes as well as signed many cooperation agreements with provinces in Cambodia, he noted.
The province enjoys a high import-export turnover with Cambodia, and has set a target of increasing trading at border gates by 30 per cent this year.
Import-export turnover between Viet Nam and Cambodia through the border gates in An Giang province reached US$360 million last year from $353 million in 2008.
"This year's $2 billion target of two-way trade between the two countries can be achieved if Vietnamese and Cambodian enterprises are more active in exploiting the existing potential to expand production and commercial activities",Thach said.
"Cambodia is a country with great unexploited potential in agriculture, agro-industry and agro-processing," said Chhoun Dara, Secretary of State in the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce.
However, it still needed better infrastructure including transportation systems, telecommunications, electricity and irrigation, he said.
"The diversity of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural and cultural parks have made the tourism sector attractive for investment in Cambodia. Development of the tourism sector will play a key role in the production of goods and services as demand for hotels, restaurants and other establishments rises, Chhoun Dara said.
"All local and foreign businessmen or investors can own 100 per cent of their business in Cambodia while most countries do not allow this," he said.
He said the country would work together with the private sector to improve its investment climate, benefiting both local and foreign investors.
"Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia has been kept stable despite the impacts of the global economic downturn," he said, adding that the bilateral trade between the two countries increased to $1.33 billion in 2009 from $1.19 billion in 2007.
In the first quarter of this year, two-way trade between the two neighbours reached $431 million, with Viet Nam exporting products worth $345 million to Cambodia and importing goods worth $86 million.
Three memoranda of understanding between Vietnamese and Cambodian companies were signed during the seminar.
The seminar was organised by the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency and the An Giang Investment and Trade Promotion Centre on the sidelines of the Mekong Delta Trade, Tourism and Investment Fair that is being held from May 21-26. — VNS
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