Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung (front, left) and South African Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Fikile Majola (front, right) at the session in Hanoi on October 16 (Photo: moit.gov.vn)

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung suggested both sides increase cooperation in the trading of agricultural products, calling on South Africa to soon open its market for Vietnam’s farm produce. Hung also asked South Africa to facilitate the distribution of Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products through its multinational supermarket chains like Makro, Metro and Woolworth, and its domestic supermarket systems like Spar, Checkers and Supespa. He urged the two countries to enhance ties in supporting industries, energy and small- and medium-sized enterprise development, as well as within multilateral trade frameworks. Speaking highly of Vietnam’s economic and trade development potential, South African Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Fikile Majola affirmed that his country considers Vietnam an important partner in Southeast Asia. He also expressed his hope that Vietnam will open its market to some agricultural products of South Africa, which is also ready to supply coal for thermal power plants in Vietnam.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, South Africa is currently the biggest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa. Bilateral trade grew from over 700 million USD in 2012 to more than 1 billion USD in 2018. The figure reached 951 million USD in the first nine months of 2019, with Vietnam recording trade surplus.