HCM City  (VNA) - Vietnam is apotential market that Russian businesses want to cooperate and boost tradeexchanges with, heard a forum in Ho Chi Minh City on April 10.

Chief Representative of the Russian ExportCentre in Hanoi Robert Kurilo said Vietnam and Russia became members of theEurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2016. Since then, the bilateral tradeexchange has increased significantly. Many Russian products including farmproduce have been present in Vietnam and vice versa, he added.

There is a wide room for the two countries toboost cooperation in tourism, agriculture and oil and gas, Kurilo said, notingthat Russian firms are especially keen to collaborate with Vietnamese partners indeveloping tourism and agri-products.

Vietnam has a lot of delicious fruits and farmproduce while the demand for such products in Russia is really huge. Russia isimporting various kinds of fruits from countries in the Southeast Asian region.This will be an excellent opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to boostexports to the market, he said.

Nguyen Viet Anh from Nafoods Group JSC said hiscompany is seeking partners to expand its exports to Russia. 

Anh said Russia is a huge market that has bigdemand for farm produce and tropical fruits. 

He hoped to establish partnership with Russianimport-export companies to make inroads into the market in the coming time.

Russian firms not only want to import farmproduce and aquatic products from Vietnam but also expect to bring Russian foodproducts to Vietnamese customers. 

Gostevskikh Mikhail, managing director ofSiberia company, said Russian businesses consider Vietnam an attractivedestination to implement new commercial development strategies.

Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economiesin Asia with improved local living standards and increasing demand forhigh-quality and safe products.

Vietnam is not only a potential economic partnerof Russia but also a close friend of Russian people, Mikhail said, adding thathe believes the bilateral trade will reap positive outcomes in the coming timewith the efforts of two sides’ State agencies and businesses.

Sergey Klishin from Schelkovo Agrohim, one ofthe largest manufacturers of pesticides in Russia, said his company is seekingopportunities to export its products to Vietnam as the Southeast Asian countryboasts a large area for agricultural production.

At the forum, participants suggested Vietnam andRussia step up trade promotion and business connectivity to create moreopportunities for enterprises to seek partners and set up long-term partnerships.-VNA