The first Vietnamese trade delegation to the country is currently holding talks with its Sri Lankan counterparts at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.“The bilateral trade volume has been growing at a remarkable 30 percent annually. This is the highest growth of bilateral trade in South Asia,” Vietnam Ambassador for Sri Lanka Phan Kieu Thu said.

Total bilateral trade for the first 10 months of 2014 has been US $ 204 million, compared to US $ 166 million for the 12 months in 2013.She said that the figure is not good enough compared to Vietnam’s other trade relations.“But there is potential. The task is to increase this volume and make money. It’s a wake-up call for businesses on both sides,” she claimed.Vietnam holds the surplus of trade between the countries with US $ 133 million worth of imports to Sri Lanka.Vietnam’s top exports to Sri Lanka include cement, fabric, fibre and rubber, while Sri Lanka’s exports include animal feed, textiles, seafood and leather products.

Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade Department of Africa, SouthernWestern Asian Markets Deputy Director General Do Huu Huy said t hat t he main objectives of the delegation are to explore the Sri Lankan market, promote Vietnam products and to implement an agreement for closer business relationships, exchange of business delegations, promoting trade fairs and setting up business forums.He said that Vietnam has attracted US $ 13.4 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) so far this year and that Sri Lanka has invested US $ 14.3 million in the tea industry.

Sri Lanka so far has not been able to attract over US $ 1.4 billion in FDIs despite the government attempting to reach a target of US $ 2 billion this year.
The ambassador said that Sri Lanka will attract more FDIs given time and become the hub of South Asia.

She also suggested the two countries setting up a single price mechanism for rubber prices to battle the falling global rubber prices, similar to the actions under discussion among Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.Thu also called for co-operation among t he t wo countries’ fertilizer industries to solve the problem created by the Sri Lankan government cutting back on fertilizer subsidies.

The 18-member delegation represented various sectors, including oil and gas, fertilizer and pesticide, construction materials, ru b b e r, information communication technology, pharmaceuticals, electronics, handicrafts, furniture, batteries and sanitary products.
Strategic investment opportunities included Vietnamese hoteliers seeking investments and Vietnam Oil and Gas Group seeking offshore oil fields in Sri Lanka.