BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/04/2008

Belarus seeks multi-sector co-operation

HA NOI - Enterprises from Belarus are willing to co-operate with Vietnamese firms in various industries including pharmaceuticals, banking, electronics and automobiles, said Belarusian Industry Minister Anatoly Rusetsky at a roundtable discussion yesterday in Ha Noi.

During his speech, the minister also encouraged Vietnamese businesses to come to Belarus to seek trade and investment opportunities as the two Governments have agreed to expand bilateral co-operation.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien highlighted industrial co-operation between the two countries as an important path with great potential.

Bien said more efforts should be made to create favourable conditions for businesses to further their co-operation in manufacturing and assembling automobiles. He also urged closer co-operation in oil and gas industries and in the production of electronic equipment for both consumer and industrial use.

The Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice chairman Doan Duy Khuong described the event as an opportunity for business communities from the two nations to explore new avenues of co-operation.

He said that Viet Nam would be an effective gateway for Belarusian goods to access ASEAN markets. In turn, Belarus would help bring Vietnamese products into the European market.

During the round table, Deputy Minister Bien and the Belarusian minister signed a Memorandum of Understanding on co-operation.

Three contracts capitalised at over $160 million were also inked between Vietnamese and Belarusian firms, including the Mekong Company's, a $6.5 million contract to buy more than 500 tractors from Minsk Co of Belarus, and two fertiliser purchase deals between the Belarusian Kali Joint-Stock Co and two Vietnamese companies.

Trade turnover between Viet Nam and Belarus reached $75 million in 2007, a year-on-year increase of 51 per cent, with Viet Nam's exports to Belarus totalling $10 million, mainly from seafood, handicrafts and agricultural products like tea and coffee. - VNS

Source:

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=07BUS090408

Google