Vietnam, Mongolia seek stronger economic, trade ties

 

Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung held a reception in Hanoi on December 6 for Mongolian Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Ulaan Chultem who is in Hanoi to attend the 17th meeting of the Vietnam-Mongolia Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation.

Dung noted that the traditional relationship between Vietnam and Mongolia is growing in all fields such as politics, economy, trade and culture, reflected through people-to-people diplomacy and regular meetings at all levels.

He welcomed the Mongolian minister’s visit which takes place at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 65th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Dung held that economic, trade and investment partnerships between the two countries have yet to meet potential and expectations of both sides.

Last year, two-way trade reached only 31.5 million USD, down 53.6 percent over 2017, he noted, stressing the need for both sides to maintain the regular exchange of delegations and high-level meetings, and promote the efficiency of the inter-governmental committee mechanism.

The Deputy PM expressed his hope that both sides would focus on dealing with problems during the cooperation process, while strengthening connections between business communities and markets of Vietnam and Mongolia, considering the opening of a direct air route between the two countries and creating a favourable conditions for enterprises of both sides to foster partnerships.

For his part, Ulaan Chultem said that during the 17th meeting of the Vietnam-Mongolia Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, the two sides agreed on important measures to further bolster economic, trade and investment cooperation towards the goal of 100 million USD in two-way trade in 2020.

He suggested that Vietnam and Mongolia should strengthen trade exchange and open their doors widely for each other’s goods, thus optimizing the potential and advantages of each country.

Mongolia hopes to import rice, coffee, vegetable oil, confectionery products, eggs, poultry meat and aquatic products from Vietnam, and export to Vietnam coal, frozen meat and leather, he said./.