Vietnam, Mexico seek to promote trade

Mexico is willing to become a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter the North American and Latin American markets to take advantage of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Speaking at the Vietnam-Mexico business forum in the Mexican capital with the participation of nearly 100 businesses from both countries, Luz Maria de la Mora, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade in Mexico's Secretariat of Economy highly appreciated the progress of economic and trade relations between the two countries in recent years. 

Vietnamese and Mexican businesses exchange information at the forum in Mexico. Photo: Vietnamplus

Mexico considers Vietnam a strategic market in Asia-Pacific, she said.

She expressed hope that the authorities of the two countries continue to strengthen coordination while businesses tap the potential of CPTPP, thereby contributing to economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Luz Maria affirmed that the Mexican Secretariat of Economy will create all favorable conditions for the business community to enhance cooperation.

Leading a Vietnamese business delegation including 23 businessmen attending the forum, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai emphasized that the purpose of the forum was to brief the businesses from both sides about the economic recovery in each country after the Covid-19 pandemic, reviewing and updating the policies, providing analysis, evaluation and solutions. 

“It would help Vietnamese and Mexican businesses devise strategies to methodically reach each other's markets, make the most of existing incentives and exploit inherent potentials in the coming time,” he said.

The forum is an opportunity for the business communities of the two countries to directly interact, seek trade opportunities, grasp new business trends and solutions, thereby actively contributing to economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Mexico and the acceleration of the post-pandemic economic recovery of each country.

Hai assessed that Vietnam and Mexico are drawing closer together to further expand and develop comprehensive cooperation, especially in the aspects of economy, trade and investment.

Mexico is currently Vietnam’s second largest trading partner in Latin America, and Vietnam is Mexico's eighth largest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

The two sides will keep fostering the implementation of measures to promote trade exchanges by taking advantage of the incentives of the CPTPP Agreement, diversifying the structure of imports and export and facilitating the process of market opening.

Vietnam wishes to further increase trade turnover and investment flow with Mexico, with a focus on energy, telecommunications, high-tech agriculture and high value-added industries.

In the business-to-business session of the forum, Nguyen Duc Hung, president of Napoli Coffee Export Import Trading Production JSC, told Vietnam News: “The Vietnamese side will create favorable conditions for the penetration of key agricultural products and beef from Mexico. For its part, Vietnam can export rubber, equipment and machinery to the Mexican market. There is huge potential for trade cooperation between the two countries."

According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, trade between Vietnam and Mexico in the first five months of 2022 continued to achieve impressive growth, with a value of US$2.33 billion and a growth rate of 21.9%.

In 2021, bilateral trade turnover reached US$5.06 billion, up 37.5% on year.