National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s visit to Uruguay is expected to open up opportunities for stronger economic and trade ties, and win-win cooperation between Vietnam and the Latin American country.

According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, Uruguay is one of Vietnam's potential trade partners in Latin America. However, trade cooperation between the two countries remains modest and has yet to be commensurate with their potential.

According to the Europe-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), two-way trade between Vietnam and Uruguay hit 190.5 million USD in 2022, up 106.5% year-on-year. Vietnam earned 102.9 million USD from exports to Uruguay, while spending 87.6 million USD on imports from the Latin American nation, up 76.7% and 157.2%, respectively.

Uruguay's data showed that Vietnam's exports to the country in January 2023 reached more than 5.7 million USD, up 2.4% over the same period in 2022. Meanwhile, Uruguay's imports from Vietnam totaled over 1.6 million USD, down 48.17% year-on-year.

High per capita income, the development of the service industry, and frequent shopping habits of Uruguayan people are considered as favourable factors for Vietnam's exports.

Notably, during the third meeting of the Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation of Vietnam and Uruguay on April 14 this year, the two sides agreed on many practical solutions to solve obstacles in bilateral trade and investment relations, and proposed trade promotion measures to facilitate activities of the two countries’ businesses.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Uruguayan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Albertoni agreed to continue working closely to effectively implement the contents agreed upon at the meeting, towards the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Uruguay is a potential market and one of the important partners of Vietnam in the region, Hai said, adding that the country has an important voice in Latin America as it is one of the founding members of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur - including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay).

Hai said the two sides should further step cooperation within bilateral and multilateral frameworks; and focus on diversifying the structure of import and export products, promoting trade promotion activities, and supporting the business community in exploring the market and seeking business opportunities, thus further strengthening the bilateral trade.

At the meeting, the two sides also proposed new cooperation areas, including food safety, customs, science and technology, software, wood exploitation and processing.

To boost exports to the Uruguayan market, the MoIT advised Vietnamese businesses to actively seek market information and update economic-trade-investment policies of both countries through the MoIT, the Vietnamese Embassy in Argentina which is also in charge of Uruguay and Paraguay, the Embassies of Argentina and Uruguay in Vietnam, and trade promotion centres of provinces and centrally-run cities.

They should also actively participate in market survey activities, and face-to-face and online trade-investment promotion events with Uruguayan partners to seek business opportunities; pay heed to improving the quality and competitiveness of products and developing new products.

The MoIT, and relevant ministries and sectors, and the Vietnam Trade Office in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will provide market information, serve as a bridge connecting the Vietnamese business community with partners in these markets, and help address difficulties facing Vietnamese firms in making inroads into the countries./.