Viet Nam, Spain seek to boost trade cooperation

The forum is aimed at offering Vietnamese businesses with new cooperation opportunities with Spanish partners at different levels in such areas as finance, technology and industry.

The event has attracted the participation of leading Spanish companies such as Mondragon, Adolfo Dominguez, Befesa, Logisfashion, Lealelo, Millard Filters Iberica and Sampol.

Spanish Ambassador to Viet Nam Fernando Curcio said numerous Spanish companies are interested in the Vietnamese market and are willing to assist the country in terms of finance, brand name and technology.

The participation of such businesses has shown the Spanish government’s support for doing business in Viet Nam, the diplomat said.

The two-way trade turnover between the two countries reached 1.434 billion USD in 2009, a year-on-year decrease of 17 percent due to the impacts of the global economic crisis. However, that number for the first seven months of this year was 650 million USD in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 6 percent over the same period last year.

Within the framework of the two-day forum, there will be about 200 bilateral meetings and direct talks between the two countries’ businesses.

The event is being coorganised by the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade, the Economy and Trade Department of the Spanish Embassy and the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Department.