Indonesia participates the expo with 60 stalls. — VNS Photo

The Vietnam International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo) opened on November 30 in HCM City with 520 companies showcasing their products at nearly 600 stalls.

They are displaying products like paper, building materials, interior decoration items, car components, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, textile and garments, machinery, electrical-electronic appliances, craft products, consumer goods.

The exhibitors are from 20 countries and territories including China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Taiwan.

Indonesia is participating for the first time in this annual event with 60 stalls in its national pavilion.

“After studying carefully we chose this expo in HCM City as a venue to directly introduce our enterprises to potential Vietnamese partners to boost bilateral trade and investment,” Indonesian ambassador Ibnu Hadi said.

Indonesia organised a seminar on the sidelines on turning challenges into opportunities in the seafood industry as part of the same effort.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said the expo is a bridge enabling Vietnamese and international enterprises to meet and find co-operation and promote trade and investment.

“It gathers investors and producers in the sectors of machinery, equipment, chemicals, building materials, agriculture, food processing, textiles and others from around the world.”

This year the Ha Noi Department of Industry and Trade is highlighting the message of preserving and developing craft villages.

Today there will be a seminar on the role of new technologies at small and medium enterprises amid global integration.

The expo is on at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7 where another exhibition on hardware and hand tools also opened yesterday with 152 domestic and foreign companies displaying their items.

Both four-day exhibitions, organised by Vinexad, will go on until December 3. — VNS