Vietnamese and Austrian businesspeople met in a forum in Hanoi on
March 13 to look for ways leading in boosting the two countries’
economic and trade ties.
The forum was jointly held by the
Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Austria ’s
Carinthia Economic Chamber (CEC).
Addressing the event, VCCI
Deputy Chairman Doan Duy Khuong pledged that the chamber will create
every possible condition for Austrian firms to invest and expand
business in Vietnam .
He reiterated the country’s policy of
treasuring the promotion of cooperation with traditional friends that
include Austria , one of the first Western nations that established
diplomatic ties with Vietnam .
Khuong spoke of Vietnam ’s
population of over 80 million, its position as the gateway to other
larger regional markets as well as the government’s ongoing reforms and
policies to encourage private sector development and build complete
legal institutions, market economic mechanism and infrastructure.
He
said he believes that these advantages and efforts will make Vietnam
an attractive destination for foreign investors, including those from
Austria .
Austrian Ambassador Georg Heindl said Austria is
enjoying a good political system and a strongly-developed industry and
sees them as huge opportunities to increase trade and investment with
Vietnam .
Austria also recognises strong
growth potentials in Vietnam in particular and Asia in general so this
forum will be a chance for it to continue working with Vietnam for
more successes in the future, the diplomat said.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, bilateral trade between
the two countries increased robustly, from 175 million USD in 2007 to
nearly 1.3 billion USD in 2012. The figure is expected to rise higher in
the time to come.-VNA