(VOVworld)-The Middle East countries have a high import demand for food, agricultural products, seafood and consumer goods, creating a great chance for Vietnamese businesses.

Tran Quang Huy, Head of the African-West and South Asian Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade told a seminar in HCM City today/ on Friday that Middle East countries have huge potential in oil and gas and financial resources. However, due to extreme weather, they have high demands for dairy products, pepper, cashew nuts and rice. This is a great opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to cooperate with the Middle East countries especially countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which businesses enjoy low import tariffs of between 0 and 5%. Beside that, Turkey, Israel, Iran and Iraq are promising markets for Vietnamese businesses. Last year, Vietnam’s exports to the Middle East reached nearly 6.7 billion USD.