HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam is one of the promisingstrategic markets for South African businesses, heard the Vietnam-South Africa businessconference in Ho Chi Minh City on October 21.

Valentine Naidoo from South Africa’s Department of Trade andIndustry said Vietnam has been considered a major and important trade partnerof South Africa.

South African firms see Vietnam as a promising market withtrade and investment cooperation potential, she said, adding that Vietnam isalso a gateway for South African goods to access Southeast Asian countries.

Jacobus Rreinier Grove from Rukou Beverages said that bothSouth Africa and Vietnam are strong in agricultural production, but with differentproduct structure, thus both sides can collaborate to promote trade and givingmore choices to consumers.

Regarding the area of processing, South Africa is strong inproducing products from natural and safe materials which is suitable to thehealthy consumption trend, he held

Meanwhile, Deshan Naidoo, Director of Factocode Microfinish,a company specialising in producing automobile spare parts, said that Vietnamhas a growing production industry with rising demand for support industryproducts.

Therefore, many South African firms hope to partner withVietnamese businesses in support industry to serve production and distribution.With their experience, South African businesses can support their Vietnamesepeers in technology transfer and personnel training, he stated.

According to Bui Thi Thanh An, Vice Director of the TradePromotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, South Africa is nowthe biggest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa with two-way trade reaching over1.1 billion USD in 2018, including Vietnam’s export revenue of over 724 millionUSD.

Major export products of Vietnam in South Africa includetelephone, agricultural products, coffee, and spices. Meanwhile, Vietnam mostlyimported wood and steel products from South Africa with value of about 368million USD.

An said that there is room for both countries to increasetwo-way trade revenue and business and investment collaboration activities tomatch their potential.

She said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnamand the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa have implemented anumber of activities for businesses of both sides to meet directly and seekstronger partnership, thus expanding the market for each other’s products./.