Hanoi (VNA)♑ - The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly organised a Vietnam-Belarus Business Forum in Hanoi on December 8 to foster the two business circles’ future partnerships.

Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce Belarus Mikhail Mialikov and over 30 businesses operating in agriculture machinery, mining equipment, automobile components, farm products, and beverage shared their high estimations of cooperation with Vietnam. They expressed their hope that the affiliation between the two countries’ business circles will be strengthened, especially in the fields of their strengths. The forum updated Vietnamese and Belarus businesspeople about the respective countries’ current policies and incentives on imports. It also enabled the participating businesses to seek long-term partnerships and investment opportunities. Hoang Quang Phong, Vice Chairman of the VCCI, commented that cooperation and investment between Vietnam and Belarus are crucial at a time when commitments in the free trade agreement between Vietnam and Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan are implemented. Two-way trade between Vietnam and Belarus in the first eight months of this year hit 95.8 million USD. Vietnam’s exports to Belarus include aquatic products, wooden products, textiles, footwear, rice, natural rubber, peanuts, cashews, tea, canned fruit and vegetables, pharmaceuticals and computers, while it imports fertilizer, machinery, automobile spare parts, trucks and chemicals from Belarus. Belarusian President Aleksandr Grigorievich Lukashenko will pay an official visit to Vietnam from December 8-9, which is expected to promote traditional friendship and multifaceted links between the two countries. He and Vietnamese leaders are expected to discuss strategies to spur economic and trade ties.-VNA