Nine Israeli corporations operating in many fields such as environmental pollution surveillance and treatment, telecommunications and information technology, beverage, water technology, post-harvest agricultural product preservation, dairy, hi-tech application to road construction, energy management and others had a useful meeting with Vietnamese enterprises at the Vietnam-Israel Business Forum on January 18 in Hanoi and January 20 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The forum was held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in coordination with the Israeli Embassy in Vietnam and the Israeli Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.
Success from sci-tech application
Mr Dinh Xuan Luu, Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel, said: Israel does not have many natural resources and above half of its area is desert. However, Israel is amongst the countries with highest per capital income in the world. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Israel in 2008 was US$205 billion and per capita GDP was approximately US$29,000. “What has helped Israel - a country without many natural resources and favourable natural conditions - achieve such a great economic success? That is the result of effective application of scientific and technological achievements to all economic and social fields,” Mr Luu said.
According to Mr Luu, Israel is strong in not only information technology, defence technology, aerospace technology but also biotechnology, which is decisive to create a highly productive agriculture. “For example, in cultivation and husbandry, Israeli farmers can harvest 400 tonnes of tomatoes and 500 tonnes of cucumbers per hectare while a cow in Israel can give an average of 1,200 litres of milk. In addition, Israel exports millions of roses each year to European countries. For that reason, Israel is called the vegetable garden of Western Europe,” Mr Luu added.
Good time for investment cooperation
Mr Pham Gia Tuc, Vice President and General Secretary of VCCI, affirmed that the Government of Vietnam always attached much importance to cooperating with Israel. This was a good time for both countries to strengthen investment cooperation, he added.
Representatives of Israeli companies also said that Israel is a small country but it is a centre of science and technology. In the coming time, Israeli companies hope to forge long-term cooperation with Vietnam for mutual development.
According to Mr Luu, visiting Israeli companies are operating in areas which are strategically important to the industrialisation and modernisation of Vietnam. This is the opportunity for Israeli companies to tap the Vietnamese large market and especially the ASEAN market with nearly 500 million consumers where Vietnam is the chair in 2010. “Vietnam-Israel cooperation has started for many years but it was in a small scale and was considered “overture” of a great concert of cooperation. This forum will play practical roles in promoting the Vietnam-Israel cooperation in a variety of fields for the mutual benefit,” Mr Luu confirmed.
According to VCCI, the bilateral trade revenue between Vietnam and Israel has been on the rise. However, the global economic crisis dragged the two-way trade turnover to only US$150 million 2009. Vietnam mainly exports footwear, apparels and agricultural products to Israel and imports high-tech equipment, chemicals and fertilisers from the Middle East this country.
Quynh Chi
Vietnamese
