Hanoi (VNA) – A forum was held inHanoi on November 28 to seek ways to enhance trade and business partnershipsbetween Vietnam and Ghana.

Do Quoc Hung, Deputy Director of the Asia-AfricaMarket Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, said thetwo countries have enjoyed increasingly enhanced relations, especially in tradeand investment, and Ghana is now a leading trade partner of Vietnam in West Africa.

In the time ahead, relevant agencies of Vietnamand Ghana should coordinate more strongly to bring bilateral trade andinvestment on par with cooperation potential, he noted.

In terms of trade with Ghana, Vietnam exported278.3 million USD and imported 294.6 million USD worth of goods in 2018, up 4.5percent and down 8.1 percent year on year, respectively, said Nguyen MinhPhuong, a representative of the Asia-Africa Market Department.

In the first 10 months of 2019, Vietnam’sexports to Ghana reached 224 million USD while imports from the African nationwere valued at 287 million USD, Phuong added.

Hung said Vietnam’s main exports to Ghanainclude rice, household utensils, clinker, steel, textiles-garments, and mobilephones and components. In return, Ghana is an important material supplier forthe Southeast Asian nation, mostly raw cashew nuts, which accounts for 88percent of Vietnam’s imports from Ghana, and timber.

Notably, Ghana is the biggest rice importer ofVietnam in Africa. In 2018, it imported over 371,181 tonnes of Vietnamese riceworth 214.1 million USD, making up 76 percent and 48 percent of Vietnam’sexports to the country and the whole Africa, respectively.

At the forum, Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Tradeand Industry Robert Ahomka-Lindsay highlighted the two countries’ soundrelations, particularly in trade, noting that bilateral trade has been growingwell in recent years.

He said Ghana is currently in the process ofindustrialisation and has paid attention to developing a healthy businessclimate and is calling for foreign investment.

With each country’s advantages and potential,Vietnam and Ghana have numerous prospects to strengthen cooperative ties inmany areas like trade, industry, agriculture, and investment, the official added./.