Though having established friendly diplomatic relations since 1975, the Vietnam-Mexico trade exchange is still at modest, falling short of expectations of the two countries. According to the Mexican Ambassador SARA VALDES, the two countries need to reach better understanding of each other’s markets and a more business to business approach. Thu Huyen reports.
The Vietnam –Mexico trade exchange has seen growth rate, could you give us some illustrating figures for that?
Our bilateral trade has increased significantly, between 2004 and 2015 it has grown at an annual rate of 28 per cent, reaching US$3,860 million in 2015. Vietnam is the 18th supplier of goods to Mexico worldwide.
Some of Vietnam’s main exports to Mexico are fish, foot-ware and machinery; while imports include seafood and electric devices, among other products.
We believe there is a great potential for other sectors and thus we encourage importers and exporters from both countries to explore it; for example, in the agriculture, livestock, and processed food sectors.
In spite of big potential, bilateral trade relations has not reached our expectations, what are the reasons for this and how should we address the issue?
I believe that more information between the business communities on each other’s markets is crucial for trade and investment. For instance, for many years the closeness to the USA, made that country an easy target for Mexican exporters, today they are aware of the importance of a more proactive promotion worldwide, and importantly in South East Asia. For this reason, we are organizing three Mexican businesses and trade Missions to Vietnam this year; we are also supporting the organization of Vietnamese business persons' visits to Mexico.
We haven't had a bilateral trade agreement until now, but fortunately Mexican foreign trade policies have changed in the last 20 years and we are now one of the most open economies in the world, having signed FTAs with more than 46 countries. We are looking forward to the ratification of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) that will add new complementation agreements with six countries, including Vietnam. Once it enters into force it will undoubtedly open a new era for bilateral trade as well as for the joint participation of our economies in global value chains.
Last but not least, we need to address a lack of information on both nations’ animal and plant health certification processes in order to promote trade in agricultural and livestock products. We are working jointly on this issue with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and we are making progress thanks to this Ministry’s active commitment.
In the framework of your working visit, you met with VCCI leaders. What result has been gained after this discussion?
We had the honour to exchange views with both the President of VCCI, H. E. Dr. Vu Tien Loc, as well as with Vice President H.E. Vo Tan Thanh in H.C.M.C. on the occasion of the visit to Vietnam of the Director General of PROMEXICO (the Mexican trade promotion agency), H. E. Dr. Francisco Gonzalez last year. We agreed on the existing potential for bilateral trade and the need to encourage more contacts between our business communities in general and, specifically, between VCCI members and Mexican Chambers of Commerce. As I mentioned earlier, our priority is reaching better understanding of each other’s markets and a more business to business approach.
We also had the chance to discuss on this with VCCI Vice Executive President H.E. Dr. Doan Duy Khuong, to whom I am grateful for giving me this occasion to make opportunities with Mexico better known among the Vietnamese business community.
What are bilateral potential areas of development as well as the Mexico’s support to Vietnam in these fields?
Mexico and Vietnam share a number of areas for future trade and investment, TPP will facilitate this trend. For example, in 2014 Vietnam imported around US$3,600 million of frozen fish, crustaceans and mollusks from different parts of the world. Mexico is an important exporter of these products, and we believe there are good possibilities to offer these products to consumers here. On the other hand, we have ascertained that Vietnamese products have also an important demand in Mexico.
Mexican enterprises are also very competitive in the construction sector where Vietnam is a very important market due to present and future infrastructure projects. In this particular area Mexico is a supplier of different materials such as cement and iron as well as a provider of service solution.
The possibility of building value chains among TPP members could be especially interesting both in the textile and garment sector in the future, as it is already happening for aquaculture where Vietnam is importing some species from Mexico to be applied in aquafarming, thus developing its own export market in seafood.
I see also an interesting potential for investment exchange in sectors such as processed foods, tourism, infrastructure and services, where investors from Vietnam and Mexico could work together creating opportunities for both nations.
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