An unprecedented economic alliance is emerging between the Philippines-Vietnam, targeting a staggering $10 billion bilateral trade goal. This bold initiative, articulated by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a dialogue with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 30, 2024, in Hanoi, represents a significant leap in leveraging underutilized resources and potentials within both nations, currently engaging in a trade worth around $7 billion.
President Marcos underscored the aspiration for balanced trade expansion, spotlighting diverse trade and investment avenues. The Philippines, capitalizing on its recent ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), aspires to augment its trade trajectory with Vietnam, ranking as its 11th largest global trade ally and fifth within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Envisioned is a closer Philippines-Vietnam partnership, aiming to streamline trade and investment processes, diminish barriers, and cultivate a transparent, predictable business milieu conducive to equitable competition and mutual prosperity. This collaboration gains significance considering the $6.18 billion total trade between the Philippines and Vietnam in 2022, with a trade balance skewed in Vietnam’s favor by $2.74 billion.
Philippines’ export portfolio to Vietnam encompasses electrical machinery, equipment, copper articles, nuclear reactors, machinery appliances, plastics, and fertilizers. Contrastingly, its import catalog from Vietnam includes cereals, electrical machinery, iron and steel, alongside various construction materials.
At a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Chinh, President Marcos invited Vietnamese enterprises to view the Philippines as a promising expansion terrain. He highlighted the Philippines’ suitability as a supplementary manufacturing hub for sectors such as energy, infrastructure, automotive, and services. This gesture acknowledges Vietnam’s robust business climate and expresses gratitude for its support of Filipino enterprises.
Presidents Marcos and Vo Van Thuong, in a joint declaration, reaffirmed their commitment to amplifying political trust, friendship, and comprehensive cooperation via regular high-level dialogues, bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and people-to-people exchanges. This commitment underscores the urgency of escalating two-way trade and investment, utilizing frameworks like the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and RCEP.
Both leaders concurred on collaborating to foster conditions favorable for seamless trade, aiming to swiftly achieve the $10 billion trade objective. They are dedicated to refining the business environment, thereby attracting investments in sectors beneficial to both nations.
Discussions extended to prospective collaborations in agriculture, notably rice trading, market access for agricultural products, food and energy security, infrastructure development, education, transportation management, innovation, tourism, connectivity, science and technology, and environmental protection. This wide array of collaborative domains underscores the multifaceted nature of the Philippines-Vietnam partnership, charting a course toward a more integrated, prosperous future for both countries.
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