Vietnamese and Azerbaijani businesses should speed up cooperation in a wide range of sectors including energy, petrochemical, agriculture and wood processing, as well as tourism, education and training.— VNA/VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese and Azerbaijani businesses should speed up cooperation in a wide range of sectors including energy, petrochemical, agriculture and wood processing, as well as tourism, education and training.

Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy and Industry Shahin Mustafayev delivered this statement during a business forum yesterday in the capital city. The event attracted the participation of 50 leading companies from Azerbaijan.

The minister pointed out that this large number of Azerbaijani enterprises joining the business conference was a good example, proving that his country's firms have been paying increasing attention to Viet Nam's market.

Meanwhile, he also called for Vietnamese companies to visit Azerbaijan in order to exploit trade and investment opportunities there.

With advantages in agriculture, industry and telecommunication, Viet Nam was willing to become an important partner of Azerbaijan and act as a bridge for the country to speed up economic and trade relations with ASEAN and Eastern Asian countries, Viet Nam's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu noted.

Two-way trade has experienced encouraging results over the past years, he stated, adding that the trade hit over US$380 million in 2013, a thirteen-fold increase from the previous year.

Of the total, Vietnamese exports contributed to $56.9 million, including mobile phones and components, electronics, tea and seafood products while the country's imports, including crude oil, petroleum products, machine and equipment, made up over $324 million.

Besides trade, there remained many other sectors for bilateral cooperation between the two business communities. He called for the firms to speed up trade promotion in each other's country to better advertise their products and seek out new partners.

In 2010, the two countries signed an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders and a protocol on cooperation between the two foreign ministries.

The Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) opened its office in Azerbaijan in 2011 with the aim of enhancing links with local partners. Viet Nam is seeking to participate in some oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan. — VNS