There is huge potential for co-operation between Vietnamese firms and businesses from China’s Shandong Province, vice chairman of the Shandong People's Council Wang Liang said on Monday.

Liang addressed a business conference in Ha Noi as part of his official trip to Viet Nam, urging the two nations’ businesses to take advantage of the potential to increase collaboration in trade, investment, finance, tourism, heath care and education.

According to Liang, Viet Nam is the largest trade partner of Shandong Province with bilateral trade reaching 38 billion Chinese yuan (more than US$5.5 billion). The province’s major exports to Viet Nam include electronics, textiles and garments, equipment and machinery. Its imports are crude oil and electronics.

Businesses from Shandong have poured their investment capital mostly into garment and rubber processing in Viet Nam, he said.

Hoang Quang Phong, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, described the event as a chance for Vietnamese enterprises to update their investment policies regarding the Chinese province and explore opportunities with potential partners.

Phong highlighted agriculture, food, construction materials, iron and steel, electrical equipment, seafood, energy and finance as promising sectors for future co-ordination.

An official from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment told the conference the FIA will provide investors – including those from China – information about investment policies.

It will also work with relevant ministries and sectors to reduce barriers to investment, the official said.

China was Viet Nam’s largest trading partner in 2018 with total export-import turnover reaching $106 billion, up 14 per cent year on year. Viet Nam surpassed Malaysia to become China’s biggest trading partner in the ASEAN region.

China is the seventh largest source of foreign investment in Viet Nam with total registered capital of more than $15.2 billion, and the flow of Chinese investment into the country has increased rapidly in recent years.

In the first five months of 2019, China registered more than $2 billion of investment in Viet Nam, making it the country’s fourth largest source of foreign direct investment during the period. — VNS