VN's supporting industry goes to Europe

Austrian import turnover of Vietnamese commodities was 550.3 million euro (US$586 million) last year. Imports consisted of garment and textiles, footwear and smart phones from Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — A business delegation flew to Austria to participate in a workshop on attracting investment for Viet Nam's supporting industries on Wednesday.

The workshop was co-organised by the Commercial Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in Austria, the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO) and the Association of the Austrian Electrical and Electronics Industries.

The workshop helped enterprises from both countries further their understandings about each other's advantages and seek partnerships in the supporting industry sector.

Viet Nam has become Austria's second largest export and import market, following Thailand, since last year.

Hans-Jorg Hortnagl, WKO regional director for South and South-East Asia, said that Viet Nam and Austria's cooperation potential is large. Over the past few years, Viet Nam has become one of the most important partners for Austria in the ASEAN region.

Hans-Jorg attributed the growth in bilateral trade to three causes. The first being the large number of Austrian companies in China. Now that Chinese market is becoming more expensive, many Austrian companies might move to Viet Nam in the future.

Secondly, Viet Nam is an important partner in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will be established at the end of this year. Viet Nam's market will be even more attractive as it becomes a manufacturing centre for ASEAN countries as well as other Asian and Europen countries.

Thirdly, the free trade agreement between the European Union and Viet Nam will be a foundation for the further cooperation between Viet Nam and Austria. — VNS