Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the Middle East and Africa has increased by 800% over the past 10 years, growing from US$2 billion in 2005 to US$15.7 billion in 2014, according to news reports.
Trade between the regions reportedly reached U$8.7 billion in the first seven months of this year.
Vietnam’s deputy prime minister, Vu Van Ninh, was cited by Viet Nam News as saying that a number of Middle East and African firms had invested in key Vietnamese projects in the fields of oil and gas, seaports, industry and construction materials. Meanwhile, Vietnamese businesses, including PetroVietnam and Viettel Telecoms, have successfully expanded their businesses in the Middle East and Africa.
He called on Vietnamese businesses, particularly those operating on small and medium scales, to improve their competitiveness to expand their operations into the Middle East and Africa.
