Chinese province, Vietnamese association hold business forum

China's Yunnan province and Vietnam boast cooperation potential in mineral exploitation, construction and trade sectors, according to a business forum held here on Thursday.

The forum is held by China's Yunnan government and Vietnamese Industry and Trade Association. China's southwest Yunnan province shares border with Vietnam.

Yang Hui, deputy director of the trade department of Yunnan said at the forum that bilateral trade between Yunnan and Vietnam reached 649 million U.S. dollars last year. Vietnam has become an important trade partner of Yunnan province.

By the end of last year, 57 companies from Yunnan have invested in Vietnam with contracted investment of 115 million U.S. dollars, said Yang.

Yang expected the forum could help companies in Yunnan and Vietnam expand cooperation in trade and investment.

Nguyen Ngoc Thang, deputy director of the international cooperation department of the Vietnam Industry and Trade Association said at the forum that the investment environment in Vietnam is improving.

Cooperation between Vietnam and some Chinese provinces including Yunnan have been deepened over the past years, said Thang.

Thang hoped that Chinese companies could pay more attention to Vietnamese market and the two sides could reach the trade target of 25 billion U.S. dollars next year.

Hu Suojin, trade counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam said Chinese government supports border provinces to expand cooperation with neighboring Vietnam. It contributed to the social and economic development of the two countries.

Companies in mineral exploitation, power development, metallurgy, construction and trade sectors attended the business forum.

Source: Xinhua