Representatives of Hanoi enterprises and their counterparts from Poland gathered in the capital on November 18 to seek potential cooperation at a forum.

Representatives of Hanoi and Poland pose for a photo
after signing an MoU in the capital city 

The Vietnam - Poland Economic Development Cooperation Forum was held by the Hanoi Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (Hanoisme) and Poland's Lower Silesian Agency for Economic Cooperation (DAWG).

According to a report by Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, as of October 2019, Poland had eight foreign direct investment projects in the city with total registered capital of 134.83 million USD in realty, manufacturing and processing industry, information and communications.

The eight representative offices of Polish firms mostly worked in pharmaceuticals.

The city’s total export turnover to Poland accounted for 2.5 percent of total exports while Poland’s exports to Hanoi accounted for 26 percent of Poland's total export turnover to Vietnam, said Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade.

Lan said Hanoi's major exports included textiles, agricultural products, handicrafts and footwear, while imports from Poland included animal feed and pharmaceuticals.

DAWG's Vice President Robert Iwan said at the forum though Vietnam and Poland are both major producers and exporters in agriculture, our products are not duplicated but complimentary to each other, adding that the potential for cooperation of both sides is still huge, especially when the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is about to come into effect.

Lan also expressed the city's desire to learn from Poland.

Hanoi wants to learn from Poland, especially Lower Silesia’s experience of high-tech agricultural development.

The cooperation will help local businesses build the value chain with advanced technology to meet the requirements of Polish and European markets, she said.

Also at the forum, more than 50 local enterprises joined a B2B meeting between Vietnamese and Polish enterprises.

On the occasion, the Trade Promotion and Enterprise Support Centre (part of Hanoisme), Greentour Hanoi Company and Poland's Hotel Service 24 Company signed a memorandum of understanding for a trade promotion programme connecting enterprises from Hanoi and Poland.

Trade and investment cooperation between Poland and Vietnam has seen positive growth in recent years.

In 2018, two-way turnover between Vietnam and Poland reached nearly 1.6 billion USD, up some 60 percent compared to 2017.

By the end of September 2019, total import and export turnover of the two countries reached more than 1.3 billion USD of which, Vietnam exported more than 1.1 billion USD and imported more than 207 million USD.