There is still big room for Vietnam and Poland to expand their trade and investment cooperation, heard a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on June 28.

At the workshop (Photo: VNA)

Phan Thiet Hoa, Director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC), said trade between Vietnam and Poland reached nearly 1.6 billion USD in 2018, up 60 percent year-on-year, of which Vietnam’s exports to the Central European country was close to 1.33 billion USD, a rise of 72 percent. 

Vietnam’s major exports to Poland are seafood, garment-textiles, plastics products, cereals, coffee and footwear, he added. 

Poland wants to import more products from the Southeast Asian nation like rice, farm produce, cooking oil and organic and health products. 

Meanwhile, the European country has strength in animal-derived products, cattle feed and pharmaceutical products for which Vietnam has great demand, the official said. 

He noted that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which is scheduled to be signed in Hanoi on June 30, will help to boost trade ties between Vietnam and Poland. 

Hoa said ITPC and the representative office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in HCM City signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in improving the efficiency of trade and investment promotion activities. 

The collaboration will better assist Vietnamese and Polish enterprises in accessing market information as well as trade and investment incentives of the other country, thus contributing to raising the bilateral trade ties, he stressed. 

Piotr Harasimowicz, head of the Polish office, said trade and investment ties between Vietnam and Poland have made progress over the past time but yet to match potential of the two countries. 

Both Vietnam and Poland are big agricultural producers and exporters. However, they are not rivals but supporters of each other, he said. 

He further explained that Vietnam is focusing on upgrading agricultural technologies and Poland may help the country in this regard. 

According to the official, Poland has to buy Vietnamese agricultural products like rice and fruits through European countries. 

The two countries should step up cooperation in milk and pharmaceutical products in the years to come, he said, adding that Polish investors also want to develop digital applications in trade, education, health and accommodation services in Vietnam, meeting the country’s socio-economic development in the context of integration.