Belgium to spur agricultural exports to Vietnam

November 25, 2017 | 16:04

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Against the rising export turnover towards Belgium in the past several years, Belgium is spurring to break open the market and export agricultural products to Vietnam.

Belgium spurs to export agricultural products into Vietnam

Pear is one of the key items Belgium wishes to export to Vietnam

At the fourth joint economic commission between Vietnam and Belgium on November 24, 2017, Belgian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dirk Achten expressed Belgian interest in exporting agricultural products, including beef, veal, and fresh pear, to Vietnam.

A representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade said that related to the fresh pear, a Vietnamese delegation visited Belgium to evaluate the system of disease control in August 2017. As for beef and veal, Vietnam is currently carrying out technical assessments on food and disease safety, as well as review the status of imported cows and beef from EU countries.

Belgium now ranks sixth out of the 27 members of the EU in two-way trade turnover with Vietnam, having reached $2.44 billion in 2016. Up to the end of September 2017, export turnover between the two countries hit $1.63 billion, up 15.44 per cent over the same period last year and import turnover hit $328 million (down 6.4 per cent).

This growing exports and falling imports has been a trend for many years now. However, export goods are still focusing on low added-value segments (agricultural products, apparel), while imports involve high added-value items (machinery, pharmaceuticals).

According to the Foreign Investment Agency of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of November 2017, there were 62 valid Belgian projects in Vietnam with total registered investment capital of $595 million, ranking 29^th among the 126 nations and territories investing in Vietnam. Belgian projects focus on real estate, processing and manufacturing, as well as logistics services.

The two countries will celebrate the 45^th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2018.

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By By Nguyen Huong

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