President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) Nguyen Thien Nhan (L) meets with the speaker of the Assembly of the Union of Myanmar Thura U Shwe Mann during his working visit to the city on Tuesday.— Photo VGP

YANGON (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam and Myanmar need to establish a State committee on economic cooperation and sign a double-taxation avoidance agreement to boost trade.

This was suggested by the President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF), Nguyen Thien Nhan, on Tuesday.

At a meeting with representatives of Vietnamese businesses and Myanmar managerial agencies in Yangon during his friendly visit to the ASEAN member state, the VFF President shared Viet Nam's experience in foreign investment management to help local authorities remove business bottlenecks.

He made it clear that Viet Nam's banking and telecommunications activities, which are awaiting Myanmar's operation licences, will not hurt local banking activities or security, but help enhance positive competition in the country.

Nhan suggested that Vietnamese companies hold regular meetings with Myanmar's government and ministry officials to report any operational problems, and organise annual trade fairs to foster trading activities.

Viet Nam currently ranks eighth among foreign investors in Myanmar with seven projects worth US$513 million. Bilateral trade between the two countries touched $480 million last year and enjoyed an average growth rate of nearly 40 per cent between 2010 and 2014.

Myanmar is regarded as a potential market by Vietnamese businesses given its young population and cultural similarities. Trade between the two countries is expected to hit $1.5 billion in the next two years and $1.7 billion by 2020.

Officials from Myanmar's foreign investment management agency said they had noted the issues raised and would submit proposals to improve the situation, adding that their country was striving to improve its infrastructure so as to facilitate investment.

As part of his visit to Myanmar, Nhan met with the Chief Minister of the Yangon Region to introduce potential cooperation opportunities. He also pointed out some hindrances faced by Vietnamese firms during their investment there and asked the Chief Minister to help solve these matters. — VNS