Trade between Viet Nam and Myanmar reached 860 million USD in 2018, making Viet Nam the 9^th largest trade partner of Myanmar, it was reported at a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and Myanmar Minister of Planning and Finance Soe Win on June 18.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and Myanmar Minister of Planning and Finance Soe Win (Photo: baochinhphu.vn)

At the meeting, held during Deputy PM Hue’s working visit to Myanmar, the two sides praised recent growth of economy-trade-investment and finance-banking cooperation between Viet Nam and Myanmar.

They were pleased to note that Viet Nam has also become the 7th largest foreign investor in Myanmar with 18 big projects worth nearly 2.2 billion USD.

They said the two economies share similarities but could supplement each other if their strengths and potential are capitalised on.

Hue thanked the Myanmar Government for creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in the country. He asked Minister Soe Win to further support the investors, particularly by simplifying administrative procedures, reducing customs clearance time, and facilitating foreign investors to register for ownership of their investment asset in the country.

The Deputy PM lauded the Central Bank of Myanmar’s recent policies that facilitate the operation of foreign credit institutions, including those from Viet Nam.

He asked the Myanmar side to continue enabling Vietnamese credit institutions to establish and expand their presence in the nation. At present, four financial organisations of Viet Nam have opened representative offices or branch offices in Myanmar.

For his part, Soe Win stated the Myanmar Government is making efforts to simplify administrative procedures to create an open business climate for foreign investors, including those from Viet Nam. He added that the efforts take time and asked Vietnamese investors to be patient and cooperate with the local authorities.

On the occasion, he also discussed measures to clear financial obstacles for a number of Vietnamese firms in Myanmar like the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL) and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV).

The same day, Deputy PM Hue visited the Vietnamese Embassy and met Vietnamese expatriates in Yangon. He also visited several representative offices of Vietnamese companies, including the BIDV, HAGL, Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group, and Viet Nam Airlines.

He also had a meeting with the 30-member Vietnamese enterprises’ club in Myanmar, which was freshly established on May 28.

(Source: VNA)