Romania - one of the few markets with growing trade with Vietnam

At the invitation of Romanian Prime Minister Ion-Marcel Ciolacu, immediately after finishing attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (WEF Davos 2024), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife will pay an official visit. Romania. Also attending the delegation were Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and other ministries. This is the first exchange of delegations at the Prime Minister level between the two countries in the past 5 years, helping to create momentum to promote bilateral cooperation in Romania's strong fields and in accordance with Vietnam's development needs. Male.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister's visit to Romania is extremely important in order to continue to consistently implement the foreign policy of independence, autonomy, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations. Vietnam, in particular, continues to promote and deepen relations with traditional friendly partners Vietnam - Romania.

Vietnam is exporting to Romania mainly: Machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts; Textile fibers and yarns of all kinds; Seafood; Computers, electronic products and components. Illustration

Assessing the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Romania, the leader of the European - American Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that currently Romania is a traditional partner of Vietnam in the Southeast Asia region. Europe and is the gateway to penetrate the markets of European Union (EU) countries. Meanwhile, Vietnam is a large market with about 100 million people, ready to be the gateway for Romania to penetrate the markets of ASEAN countries.

In trade and import-export activities, Vietnam and Romania have the potential to cooperate in many aspects, the import-export structure of goods between the two countries can complement each other. Currently, the two economies are experiencing high growth rates and need to expand their export markets. Notably, the Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union (EVFTA and EVIPA), of which Romania is a member, were officially signed in 2019, of which the EVFTA Agreement includes effective from August 2020, has been opening up new opportunities and new doors of cooperation to bring economic, trade and investment relations between the two sides to new heights.

Specifically, in the period 2019 - 2023, bilateral trade in goods between the two countries has increased more than 1.65 times from 261.4 million USD in 2019 to 431 million USD in 2023, the average growth rate in this period. is 15%/year. Vietnam's exports to Romania increased 1.46 times from nearly 194 million USD to 282.3 million USD. Vietnam's imports from Romania increased 2.2 times from 67.5 million USD to 148.6 million USD.

By the end of 2023, the import-export turnover of goods between Vietnam and Romania will reach nearly 431 million USD, an increase of 1.4% compared to 2022. " In the context of general economic difficulties, Romania is one of the Few markets in the European region will have trade growth in 2023 with Vietnam" - leader of the European - American Market Department assessed and further informed, in 2023 Vietnam's export turnover to Romania will reach 282.3 million USD, down 12.5%, imports reached nearly 148.7 million USD, up 44.8%. Vietnam's trade surplus with Romania reached 133.6 million USD.

Currently, Vietnam exports to Romania mainly: Machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts; Textile fibers and yarns of all kinds; Seafood; Computers, electronic products and components; Products from iron and steel; Coffee... and imported from Romania mainly products such as: Cereals (wheat and corn); Fodder; Medicine; Fabric woven from sheep's wool; Wood...

Regarding investment cooperation, accumulated until September 2023, Romania has 5 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of 1.56 million USD, ranking 93rd out of 144 countries. and territories with investment activities in Vietnam. On the contrary, as of September 2023, Vietnam has 1 investment project in Romania with a total registered capital of 0.6 million USD, ranking 65/80 countries and territories with investment projects of Romania. Vietnam.

With the above mentioned opportunities, it can be affirmed that the two countries Vietnam - Romania have great opportunities and potential for cooperation in all fields, especially in economics, trade, investment, and education.

Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and Minister of Economy, Enterprise and Tourism of Romania at the 17th Meeting of the Vietnam - Romania Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation

Opportunity to create breakthroughs in trade and investment cooperation

Although the economic and trade cooperation relationship between the two countries has developed and grown positively in recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has not been as expected and is not commensurate with the relationship and potential of the two countries. Because, bilateral trade in goods between Vietnam and Romania is only equal to 0.06% of Vietnam's import-export turnover of goods and only 0.2% of Romania's import-export turnover of goods.

Analyzing the cause, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the first and most important reason is that the market information of both sides is limited. The business communities of the two sides still lack information about each other, the understanding of the two countries' businesses about each other's markets and business cultures is still relatively sketchy, leading to ineffective cooperation; Negotiation takes a long time and is done many times.

Along with that, geographical distance is a big barrier to understanding and penetrating each other's markets. High transportation costs and time take a lot of time, making it difficult for each country's goods to reach each other's markets. On the other hand, non-tariff barriers are also a challenge in promoting trade cooperation between the two sides.

It is expected that after Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Romania, traditional areas of cooperation such as economics, trade, labor, culture, education, human resource training... will be promoted to a new phase. Illustration

Offering solutions to help businesses of the two countries exploit each other's strengths, Mr. Ta Hoang Linh - Director of the European - American Market Department proposed that the two sides need to promote information and research activities. market; Identify potential areas where both sides have strengths as well as competitiveness to boost exports...

“ The Ministry of Industry and Trade is always ready to create the most favorable conditions for the business communities of the two countries to have opportunities to exchange and connect trade through trade promotion activities, fairs and exhibitions... to help Both sides' businesses can penetrate deeper into each other's markets " - Director General Ta Hoang Linh affirmed.

Romania is one of the 10 countries that established the earliest diplomatic relations with Vietnam, since 1950. With this solid foundation, in the coming years, the cooperation and trade relationship between Vietnam and Hungary will become increasingly tight. tighter. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang said that the Prime Minister's visit to Romania will contribute to further increasing political trust, strengthening and enlivening traditional friendship relations, and actively supporting each other. between two countries.

After Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Romania, traditional areas of cooperation such as economics, trade, labor, culture, education, human resource training... will be promoted to a new stage. The new phase meets the development requirements of each country. At the same time, the visit will open up new opportunities for cooperation in potential and strong fields such as science and technology, information and communication, pharmaceuticals, innovation...