HANOI: The Pakistani Government wants to sign a trade preferential agreement with Viet Nam, paving the way for a future bilateral free trade agreement with a view to accelerating the two countries’ trade.
The intention was delivered by Pakistani Finance Deputy Minister Tariq Bajwa at the third session of the Viet Nam-Pakistan Intergovernmental Committee, hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in Ha Noi yesterday.
At the candid discussion, MoIT Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai proposed increasing delegation exchanges to boost bilateral engagement. He emphasised the importance of encouraging trade promotion programmes and market research among the business communities.
Both sides need to set out orientations for agriculture, finance, banking and tourism co-operation. Meanwhile, the Pakistani side added information technology as one of the promising co-operation fields with Viet Nam.
According to statistics from the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, trade revenue between Viet Nam and Pakistan climbed to US$427 million in 2014 from $242 million in 2010.
In the January-October period this year, the figure was recorded at $475 million – an annual increase of 40 per cent, and is expected to reach $500 million for the entire year. Pakistan is the biggest importer of Vietnamese tea with 35,000 tonnes valued at $81 million in 2014. Viet Nam mainly imports fabric, cotton, chemicals and animal feed from Pakistan.
