The Council will help strengthen business cooperation between Vietnam and Latin America, and at the same time will gather Vietnamese businesses that are interested in expanding markets in Latin America, said Vu Tien Loc, VCCI Chairman.
The Council will serve as a policy dialogue mechanism between governments and businesses, as well as an organization that will link enterprises, he said.
He said it marks a new development in the relations between the two business communities and the long-term partnerships between them and their governments, hoping to boost Vietnam-Latin America commercial and economic ties.
Vietnam wants to strengthen its traditional friendship with Latin American nations, especially in trade, investment and tourism, Loc stressed
In addition to flourishing political and diplomatic ties, Vietnam and Latin America have great potential for economic development as they are strong in the areas that can supplement each other.
These areas include oil and gas exploration and processing, mineral exploitation, hydro, wind, and nuclear power, bio-products, agriculture and farm product processing.
Vietnam has penetrated 33 markets in the Latin American region and annual two-way trade turnover has increased significantly from around US$2 billion in 2008 to over US$5.15 billion in 2011.
Vietnam’s major export items to these markets include footwear, garments, electronic devices, home appliances, rubber, electric engines, optical equipment, rice, coffee and coal, while it imports wood, paper pulp, raw leather, soybeans, fish powder, crude copper, steel foil, cotton and automobile parts.
However, aside from its traditional trade partners namely Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela, commercial relations between Vietnam and other countries in the region is still very limited due to language barriers, geographical distance and a general lack of information.
Moreover, Vietnamese and Latin American businesses have not had much chance to meet because op the relatively large costs for market research, Loc concluded.