Vietnam and Norway promote trade cooperation through online conference

With the theme “Prospects of Vietnam-Norway trade relations in the new situation”, the conference is considered a practical activity to support Vietnamese and Norwegian businesses to connect and exchange about the potential of trade relations and prepare new activities as soon as the pandemic is under control.

At this online trade conference, the parties will openly discuss and learn more about each other’s needs and capabilities and come to an agreement on opportunities and development cooperation, contributing to strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two nations.

The conference is also one of the activities within the framework of the Vietnam Value Programme chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which follows the purpose of promoting trade exchange between Vietnam and countries around the world. At the same time, it is one of the activities on the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Norway this November.

Janicke Andreassen, Norwegian Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries, highly appreciated the strong developments in the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Norway and Vietnam over the years, especially in recent years in fields like marine economy, renewable energy, combating climate change, and sustainable development.

According to Andreassen, Vietnam’s participation in free trade agreements (FTA) has had a positive impact on trade exchange between Vietnam and Norway in recent years.

At the conference, Ambassador of Vietnam to Norway, Le Hong Lam, will provide information about trade cooperation between Vietnam and Norway in the current context.

Ambassador Lam said that in the last five years, bilateral trade between the two countries recorded a fairly stable growth of more than 10 per cent annually and reached $1 billion in 2020.

Vietnamese and Norwegian trade has grown by more than 10 per cent annually and reached $1 billion in 2020

“In terms of each country’s most competitive exports – that is Vietnam’s agricultural products and Norway’s renewable energy products – the figures show that both countries have not reached their full export potential yet,” the ambassador commented.

To clarify Vietnam’s trade policies and regulations related to the FTAs the country has joined so far, Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong from the Department of Multilateral Trade Policy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade will partly answer the needs of businesses of the two countries in learning about the supporting mechanisms and policies of the governments to promote bilateral trade relations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung, chairman of the Vietnam Marine Farming Association, will share potential products that Vietnam wants to promote to Norway, which focuses on seafood products. Dung will also provide specific information about products, export values, and advantages of Vietnamese products compared to other countries in the region, which will be transmitted to Norwegian organisations and businesses participating in the programme.

The Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries will send delegates, especially Vietnamese businesses, updates on Norway’s trade policies and mechanisms, rules, and regulations related to Norwegian trade.

Asbjorn Warvik Rortveit, regional director for Southeast Asia at the Norwegian Fisheries Association will also introduce opportunities for cooperation in the seafood sector in Norway, as well as consumer preferences for seafood products.

The Norwegian side will also talk about one of its strengths, clean energy sources, with large corporations such as Equinor and Norwep.

Immediately after the conference, the Trade Policy Department and the Embassy of Vietnam in Norway will connect about 60 Vietnamese and Norwegian enterprises for exchange.

Participating Norwegian and Vietnamese businesses highly anticipate the arranged separate online trading rooms, with the list of businesses divided according to the needs of each business as well as appropriate fields and industries to ensure that the right person is working with the right partners.