Trucks carrying goods to China waiting for customs clearance before crossing the Na Nua Border Gate in Trang Dinh district in the northern province of Lang Son (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – Businesses in Beijing and Tianjin and Hebeiprovinces in China want to promote investment and trade with Vietnamesepartners, according to the Tianjin Foreign Economic and Trade PromotionAssociation.

Speaking at the trade and investment promotion conference between Vietnam andChina’s Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei provinces in HCM City on December 6, GengWei, the association chairman, said Vietnam is a promising market.

Nguyen Thi Huyen Ngoc of the Investment Promotion Centre for southern Vietnam,said China currently ranks eighth out of 120 countries and territoriesinvesting in Vietnam with 12 billion USD in 1,784 projects.

Chinese firms invest mainly in manufacturing, production and distribution ofpower, gas and water, real estate, hospitality, construction, and mining, shesaid.

Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s HCMCity office, said Vietnam and China have good relations, especially incommerce.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and Vietnam is China’s largest tradingpartner in ASEAN and ninth largest in the world, he said.

Last year, their trade was worth 72 billion USD, with Vietnam’s imports being 52billion USD, he said.

But according to Chinese customs’ statistics, trade was actually worth 98billion USD last year if cross-border trade is considered, he said.

“This year trade is expected to top 100 billion USD, a target the two sides hadset only for 2020.”

Vietnam’s main exports are telephones, crude oil, coal, rubber, rice, fruitsand vegetables and seafood and imports include feedstock for manufacturinggarment and textiles and steel and agricultural produce.

“In recent years China has increased investment in Vietnam, and this isexpected to continue in the future,” Thanh said.

Ngoc said the processing and manufacturing sectors are expected to attract moreChinese investment.

With its stable political situation, rapid economic growth, clear andtransparent investment policies, large workforce, improved infrastructure, andregional and global economic integration, Vietnam is an attractive investmentdestination, including for Chinese investors, she said.

She also spoke about investment procedures in Vietnam, tax breaks offered topriority sectors and projects that are soliciting investment.

Vietnam has 324 industrial parks, of which 34 have foreign investors.
It currently focuses on calling for investments in high value-added projects,hi-tech and environment-friendly projects, large-scale projects, IT andbio-technology serving modern agriculture, infrastructure development in theform of PPP, and modern services as well as encouraging a gradual switch fromsub-contracting to production, she said.

Thanh said Chinese businesses could find a lot of opportunities in Vietnam,including HCM City.

The conference is a good opportunity for businesses from the two countries tounderstand each other’s markets and enhance investment and trade ties, headded.

Organised by Vinexad and the VCCI in collaboration with other organisations,the conference was part of the 2017 Vietnam Expo that is being held at theSaigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City from December 6 to 9.

More than 150 exhibitors from China’s three provinces are participating in thetrade fair to study Vietnamese market and seek business opportunities here,Geng said.

At the conference, Geng also called on Vietnamese businesses to come to Tianjinto explore ♋investment opportunities there.-VNA