Vietnam and Poland set to tighten trade and investment co-operation

Aquatic product processing is one of the many sectors eyed by Polish firms

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Polish President Andrzej Duda will pay a state visit to Vietnam during November 27-30.

Duda will have bilateral talks with his counterpart Tran Dai Quang, who invited him to Vietnam, and have meetings with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The two sides are expected to discuss various issues, with a focus laid on measures to strengthen the two countries’ trade and investment co-operation, which is strongly rising, despite the current humble figures.

The two countries are expected to sign bilateral co-operation deals in the sectors of education and training, investment, environment, finance and banking, and agriculture.

During this visit, many Polish businesses will also come to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities in their primary areas of business, such as waste treatment, food processing, green technology, mining and mining equipment manufacturing, medical equipment, and shipbuilding.

Polish firms also want to avail themselves of the advantages from the free trade agreements that Vietnam has and will ink with foreign nations to boost their exports.

A Vietnamese-Polish economic forum will see these businesses meet with Vietnamese partners during the visit, which will also witness the launch of the Poland Investment and Trade Office in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Polish government has identified Vietnam as one of the six key markets of Poland. In particular, Vietnam is expected to become a bridge for Polish firms to penetrate the Southeast Asian market of over 630 million people.

As of October 2017, Poland had 14 valid investment projects in Vietnam, registered at nearly $183 million. Within 2014-2017, the Polish-Vietnamese investment co-operation doubled, largely focusing on the sectors of real estate (Euro Vietnamese Village), processing (VIFON), and services (Halong Plaza).

Vietnam currently has only four valid investment projects in Poland, registered with $5.1 million, focusing on the fields of services and foodstuff.

These projects include a Vinamilk’s $3-million Vinamilk Europe, which specialises in trading agricultural materials and milk products.

At present, Poland is Vietnam’s largest trading partner in the East-Central European region, while Vietnam is Poland’s seventh largest trading partner outside the EU.

Bilateral trade turnover rose from $650 million in 2010 to $761 million in 2015 and $790 million last year. In the first nine months of this year, the figure was $730 million. The figure is expected to hit about $1 billion throughout this year.

Vietnamese exports to Poland include garments and textiles, aquatic products, rice, coffee, pepper, confectionery, mobile phones, and electronic items, while imports from this nation are powdered milk, pharmaceutical products, fruit, and equipment for the coal and shipbuilding sectors.

Polish businesses set sights on Vietnam’s rising star On the occasion of Poland’s National Independence Day (November 11), Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Barbara Szymanowska spoke with VIR’s Thanh Tung about the two countries’ traditional relationship, which has a strong focus on trade and investment.

Poland-Vietnam: 65 years of friendship and cooperation Poland and Vietnam today celebrates the 65th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations since the establishment in 1950.

Poland looks to ramp up trade with Vietnam A business delegation of more than 50 Polish companies will visit Vietnam during June 10-14 to seek trade and investment opportunities with domestic counterparts.