Vice President of VCCI Bui Trung Nghia speaks at the event (Photo: Truong Dang)

On the morning of February 5 in Hanoi, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in coordination with the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, organized the program “Vietnam - South Africa Business Meeting,” with the participation of representatives from diplomatic agencies, trade promotion organizations, and the business communities of both countries.

The event took place in the context that Vietnam-South Africa relations were upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2025, creating a favorable political and legal foundation to promote bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation.

A foundation for market expansion

In his opening remarks, Mr. Bui Trung Nghia, Vice President of VCCI, welcomed the South African business delegation led by the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on their visit and working trip to Vietnam in the early months of 2026.

According to Mr. Nghia, Vietnam is located in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region, with a market of more than 100 million people, an abundant workforce, and increasingly improved infrastructure. In 2025, Vietnam’s economy recorded an estimated GDP growth of 8.02%, with the economy reaching approximately USD 514 billion and per capita income reaching USD 5,026. Disbursed FDI reached approximately USD 27.62 billion, up 9% compared to the previous year, demonstrating that international investor confidence continues to be strengthened.

Vietnam’s total import-export turnover in 2025 reached USD 930 billion, up 18.2% year-on-year, including USD 475 billion in exports and USD 455 billion in imports. Vietnam has signed 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) with major partners worldwide and is accelerating export market diversification while enhancing enterprise capacity to participate more deeply in global supply chains.

Within this orientation, Africa and the Middle East have been identified as highly potential markets alongside traditional markets such as the United States and China.

“Vietnam is focusing on diversifying export markets and strengthening enterprise capacity to participate more deeply in global supply chains. In that context, Africa is a highly potential market region that is receiving increasing attention from the Vietnamese business community,” Mr. Bui Trung Nghia emphasized.

The visit of the President of South Africa to Vietnam in 2025 opened the door to many future cooperation opportunities between the two countries.

South Africa - A key partner in Africa

Vietnam and South Africa maintain a long-standing friendly cooperative relationship, strengthened by an increasingly comprehensive legal framework. The upgrade of bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership in 2025 is considered an important step forward, creating new momentum for cooperation across various fields.

Currently, South Africa is Vietnam’s largest trading partner in Africa. In 2025, total bilateral import-export turnover reached approximately USD 1.3 billion, down about 24% year-on-year due to the impact of the global economic context. Vietnam’s major exports to South Africa include phones and components, textiles and garments, footwear, rice, coffee, and seafood, while imports from South Africa include coal and solid fuels, fruits, wine, beef, and minerals.

Both sides are aiming to increase bilateral trade turnover in a balanced direction to USD 4–5 billion within the next 2-3 years through expanding product categories, strengthening business connectivity, and better leveraging the complementary nature of the two economies. Vietnam is also advocating for member countries of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) to consider moving toward negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA).

“These figures demonstrate that cooperation potential between Vietnam and South Africa remains significant, particularly as the two economies are complementary to each other. VCCI expects the business communities of both countries to better seize cooperation opportunities in the coming period,” Mr. Bui Trung Nghia stated.

Strengthening connectivity toward sustainable cooperation

Based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between VCCI and the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) in May 2024, both sides committed to promoting information exchange, partner matching, and organizing trade promotion activities, fairs, business forums, and market survey delegations.

Fields identified with strong potential for enhanced cooperation include energy and mining, agriculture and food processing, industry and logistics, as well as technology and innovation.

With a network of more than 200 industry associations and nearly 200,000 member enterprises, VCCI affirmed its readiness to act as a bridge and coordinate with South African authorities to further promote practical and effective economic and trade cooperation activities between the business communities of both countries.