Zim Keen to Trade With Vietnam

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) November 25, 2005 Kudzai Chawafambira 11/29/2005

THE governments of Zimbabwe and Vietnam have expressed willingness to work together by establishing a joint trade committee early next year in Hanoi to further strengthen bilateral economic co-operation. Secretary of Industry and International Trade Retired Colonel Christian Katsande emphasised Zimbabwe's willingness to trade with the Asian country at the trade and investment seminar held for a business delegation from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce last week. "Out of the foreign investment that Zimbabwe approved in 2004, 54 percent of it was from the South-East Asian countries. "It was our hope that Vietnam will also contribute to this investment drive. "I would like us to work towards constituting the joint trade committee and convene our first meeting in the first quarter of 2006, to further pursue the matter of increasing bilateral economic co-operation between our respective countries," said Rtd Col Katsande. He, however, noted that the greatest challenge that confronted both parties was information exchange. There was therefore an urgent need for the respective business sectors to be better informed with respect to what each country had to offer. "It is against this background that we greatly value this exploratory mission by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The Government of Zimbabwe will also put together a business delegation to reciprocate this mission and explore opportunities in Vietnam, in the early part of next year," said Rtd Col Katsande. The visit by the Vietnam delegation comes against a backdrop of relatively low volumes of trade between the two countries over the past five years. Total trade between Zimbabwe and Vietnam declined from US$4,7 million in 2001 to only US$2,4 million in 2004, reflecting a 49 percent drop. Trade between the countries was restricted to tobacco and cereals, with Zimbabwe exporting tobacco to Vietnam and importing cereals, mostly rice, from that country. There were indications that the visiting delegation had expressed interest in food processing and leather making, among others, which they intended to venture jointly with locals such as the Industrial Development Corporation. Colonel Phung Quang, Vietnam's deputy director-general in the Department of Economics, led the 15-member delegation comprising export and marketing managers, among other senior government officials. "We need to consolidate and foster business between the two nations. We strongly believe there is need for the two nations to put our efforts together," he said. Col Quang said they would want to explore areas including tourism, agricultural equipment, leather and shoewear chemicals, wooden furniture, textile and clothing, construction, telecommunications, foodstuffs and beverages, among others. Enditem