"Vietnam and Turkey necessarily strengthen cooperation to facilitate companies of both sides to seek and expand business and investment opportunities. The Turkish Government is ready to create all favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest in Turkey," H.E. Bülent Arinç, Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister of Turkey said at the Vietnam - Turkey Investment and Trade Conference. The event was held on February 22-23, 2011 in Hanoi by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on the occasion of the fifth meeting of Vietnam - Turkey Joint Committee.
A delegate of nearly 30 Turkish businesses attended the meeting. Visitors are mainly operating in construction, building materials, machinery, steel, cement, automobile, motorcycle, parts, garment, electrical appliance, electronics, tourism, financial service, insurance, mining, petroleum, furniture, supermarket chain, diamond, jewellery, food, cooking oil, education, office equipment, souvenir, import and export, etc.
Target of US$1 billion of export turnover in 2011
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and Turkey are progressing beautifully. The two sides have exchanged high-ranking ministerial visits and business delegations. The two sides are negotiating and completing necessary procedures to sign Agreement on Investment Encouragement and Protection, Agreement on Double Tax Avoidance and Agreement on Aviation. Recently, Turkish Airlines opened a direct flight route from Istanbul to Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate citizen travelling and commercial activities between two countries.
Currently, Turkey is one of Vietnam’s largest trade partners in West Asia. The two-way trade has significantly expanded in the past years. In 2010, the bilateral trade turnover reached US$636 million, up 49 percent from 2009. However, cooperation in industry, agriculture, investment, finance, science, technology, construction, labour, culture, sports and tourism is incommensurate with potentials and expectations of the two nations.
Mr Vu Tien Loc, President of VCCI, said Vietnam and Turkey have established traditional friendly relations. Vietnam always attaches importance to comprehensive cooperation with Turkey. The establishment of the Joint Vietnam - Turkey Committee has expressed particular concerns of the two governments in boosting economic cooperation relations to a new high.
“After nearly four years becoming an official WTO member, with its favourable geographical conditions, open policies, and improved investment and business environment, Vietnam is actually opening up many new opportunities for Turkish investors in particular and foreign investors in general. Vietnam is becoming an attractive destination to direct and indirect Asian investors. Vietnam highly appreciates Turkey’s official joining to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) with ASEAN and considers it an important development step in Turkey-ASEAN relations in general and Turkey-Vietnam ties in particular,” said Mr Loc.
According to Mr Loc, Turkey is a large and important market. In 2009, VCCI collaborated with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) to set up the Vietnam - Turkey Business Council. In the past time, the Council has actively pushed forward the two-side trade and economic cooperation.
In this meeting, VCCI and the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) signed a memorandum of understanding on standard and quality cooperation.
Mr Do Quy Dung, President of the Vietnam - Turkey Business Council, said, in 2010, the Council sent a Vietnamese business delegation to Turkey to attend the “Turkey - World Trade 2010” event held by TUSKON. Vietnamese enterprises signed several contracts to export agricultural products and handicrafts to the Turkish market. In addition, the council also welcomed many Turkish business delegations to visit and seek business and investment opportunities. The two countries expected the two-way trade turnover to climb to US$1 billion in 2011.
Joint cooperation to tap advantages
VCCI President Vu Tien Loc said that, with closed and nice cooperation foundation, Vietnamese and Turkish business communities are expected to make good use of opportunities created together with continued business environment improvement and opening market of Vietnam. “Turkish companies should coordinate with Vietnamese partners to exploit the advantages of Vietnam in the context of international integration. Its advantages include a stable political background, young and abundant workforce, hospitability of Vietnamese people, and particularly outstanding geo-economic position in the region,” Loc added.
According to Mr Loc, to enhance cooperation in the future, the two countries should create new momentums, find new ways, boost information exchange to broaden mutual understanding of potentials, demand and difficulties of each other, etc.
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, Vietnam and Turkey have a lot of potentialities and opportunities to promote economic and commercial cooperation. Thus, at this conference, businesses of both sides should actively exchange information and discuss specific contents of cooperation. In the coming time, businesses should continue maintaining contact, exchanging information and implementing signed agreements as well as preparing for market surveys and exhibitions in each nation to snatch opportunities of business and investment cooperation.
Quynh Chi
Vietnamese
