The Vietnamese Embassy in Saudi Arabia has stepped up trade promotion activities, popularising the country's products in many of the host localities, Ambassador Dang Xuan Dung told the Vietnam News Agency in an interview.

The embassy has also connected businesses of the two countries to know each other’s demands. Samples have been displayed in seven out of the 13 regions of Saudi Arabia, namely Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Tabuk, Al Jouf, Al Kharj, Qassim.

According to the ambassador, to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese aquatic products to access the Saudi Arabian market, the embassy has actively lobbied the Saudi Food and Drug Administration to lift the ban on the import of this type of product. As a result, 38 Vietnamese aquatic enterprises have been licensed to export to Saudi Arabia since August 2020.

The export turnover of Vietnam’s aquatic products to the Middle East country in the first nine months of this year increased by more than 200% compared to the same period last year.

The embassy has also proactively updated and provided information to domestic businesses about the economic situation as well as tax and trade policies of the host and the neighbouring countries. Investment forums and seminars have been held in localities, thereby creating favourable conditions for the two countries' business communities to learn about the market as well as explore business cooperation opportunities, he said.

The embassy in collaboration with Lulu supermarket chain and embassies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries organised the annual week "Amazing ASEAN: Discover the Flavour of Asia" to popularise food and consumer goods of Vietnam and other ASEAN countries in Saudi Arabia market, Dung said.

The ambassador said it is necessary for Vietnam to push up the export of agricultural and aquatic products including rice, cashew nuts, tea, pepper, coffee and canned fish to the Middle East country as many Saudi Arabian enterprises are interested in.

In the coming time, the embassy will continue to promote Vietnamese products and strengthen the connection between the business communities of the two countries and encourage potential Saudi Arabian investors to participate in Vietnamese projects, he said./.