Vietnam and Myanmar are seeking increased economic and trade cooperation and a meeting on the move between a Vietnamese ministerial delegation and officials of a Myanmar's biggest business organization has taken place recently in Yangon, according to official media report Wednesday.
The discussions between the Vietnamese delegation, led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien, and the Myanmar delegation, led by President of the Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) U Win Myint, covered matters relating to economic and trade opportunities and cooperation between the two countries, exchanging of delegations, study
of agricultural technology, trade and investment, said the New Light of Myanmar.
Last month, some Vietnamese entrepreneurs visited Myanmar, holding that they wanted to put a first hand into the Myanmar market in the light of Myanmar's foreseen political and economic evolution ahead although its current investment in Myanmar reached merely 0.15 percent of the total, the UMFCCI was quoted as saying.
According to the official statistics, Vietnam's investment in Myanmar hit 23.4 million U.S. dollars in nearly 21 years up to the end of May this year since the country opened to such investment in late 1988. Vietnamese businessmen said they wants to expand investment in the fishery and hotel industry.
Vietnam stands the 16th among Myanmar's exporting countries. Myanmar mainly exported its forestry products to Vietnam, followed by agricultural produces, seafood and electrical spare parts, while it imported from Vietnam
steel, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, medicines, industrial products, chemical products, computer and accessories, plastic, cosmetics and engine oil.
Under a memorandum of understanding reached at the 5th meeting of the Myanmar-Vietnam Joint Trade Committee at the Vietnamese port city of Ho Chi Minh in February this year, Vietnam will import over 5 million U.S. dollars' hardwood from Myanmar and the activity will be carried out in 2010, according to the commerce authorities.
Official statistics show that Myanmar-Vietnam bilateral trade in the first 11 months of 2008 hit 118 million dollars, up 21.3 percent compared with same period of 2007. Of the total, Myanmar's export to Vietnam took 90 million dollars while its import from Vietnam stood 28 million dollars, enjoying a trade surplus of 62 million dollars.