At the working session. (Photo: VOV)

At the working session within the framework of the ASEAN Committee's activities, Minister Gimenez also expressed his nation’s desire to expand cooperation with Vietnam as well as ASEAN member states.

He briefed ASEAN Ambassadors on Paraguay's economic activities, import-export and foreign investment attraction, as well as the South American nation’s current status and potential for stronger trade cooperation with ASEAN member states.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Paraguay, last year's trade turnover with Vietnam reached US$240 million, including nearly US$110 million from Vietnamese exports and US$130 million from its imports.

During the 2021-2023 period, Vietnam primarily exported to Paraguay phones and mobile phones, footwear, garments and textiles, auto tires, electronics, while importing soybeans, meat meal, cotton, frozen beef and corn.

According to the World Bank (WB), Paraguay is a country with a faster and higher economic growth rate than the average of the Latin American region thanks to macroeconomic stability and a favorable external environment. In 2023, the South American country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) hit 4.7%, the highest in the region.

Paraguay is the world's major exporter of agricultural products, livestock and electrical energy, and famous for its production of raw materials and foods, especially chemicals, meat, beverages and tobacco. Last year, industrial products accounted for 56% of Paraguay's exports.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the US and Russia are Paraguay's key export markets, while the major import markets include China, Brazil, the US, Argentina, Germany and India.

Paraguay, a member of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) along with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, offers many tax incentives with the lowest average rate in the South American region.