Vietnam's trade expansion offers export opportunity

Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan on Saturday reaffirmed the government's commitment to strengthening bilateral economic ties with Vietnam, with a focus on boosting local trade and increasing exports from the country.

In a televised message from Vietnam, the minister said that the trade volume of Vietnam was $800 billion, which was expected to reach $1 trillion soon, adding that the expansion of trade offered an opportunity to Pakistan to further enhance its exports to Vietnam. The prime minister had assigned the task to explore a mechanism for enhancing trade between Pakistan and Vietnam, besides following its model to promote and adopt value addition to increase exports from the country, he added.

The minister for commerce was on a four-day official visit to Vietnam from July 9-12, which was the first high-level ministerial trip in the last 15 years. Jam Kamal said that under the special directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Ministry of Commerce and the trade officer of the embassy of Pakistan in Vietnam worked hard to revive and further strengthen bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries.

He said that a joint technical committee, formed many years ago, was also revived in order to enhance trade and investment.

He emphasised that Pakistan and Vietnam were keen to boost trade and investment relations, adding that both countries would deepen business-to-business interaction to explore the areas of potential investments.

Vietnam too is keen to export intermediate industrial goods and raw material to Pakistan and a roadmap has been devised to promote and develop trade and investment.

Besides, the minister said that discussions were also held to foster cooperation in specific sectors for mutual benefit, adding that a business delegation of Vietnam would visit Pakistan soon to scout for trade and investment opportunities.

He expressed optimism that the outcome of his visit would help to further strengthen and develop economic relations between Pakistan and Vietnam, besides augmenting the volume of bilateral trade.

Renewing banking cooperation

On Saturday, the commerce minister also held a meeting with State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Deputy Governor Dr Hoang Trung to discuss avenues for enhanced financial cooperation.

Both sides recalled the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2004 between the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and SBV and welcomed the proposal to renew and modernise the agreement in view of the evolving financial landscapes and growing bilateral trade. It was acknowledged that a renewed MoU could serve as a foundational framework to support banking cooperation, promote cross-border investment and facilitate regulatory collaboration. In particular, both parties recognised the importance of incorporating emerging areas such as digital transactions, QR code-based payment systems and financial inclusion into the future scope of cooperation.

The minister appreciated Vietnam's advancements in digital banking and expressed interest in leveraging its experience to support Pakistan's financial innovation efforts. Both sides reaffirmed the role of central banks in enabling an environment conducive to economic and commercial engagement.

The meeting concluded with a commitment to maintaining institutional linkages through the SBP's International Relations Department.