HCM City (VNA) – There remains room to advance trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia, with the latter being a potential export market of the former in the ASEAN region, according to speakers at a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 15.

Co-organised by the municipal Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) and the Indonesian Consulate General, the event aimed to promote trade between the nations.

Tran Phu Lu, deputy head of the ITPC, said the countries’ collaboration is growing strongly and recommended the sides develop an action programme to implement their strategic partnership for 2024-2028 with the aim to push bilateral trade to 15 billion USD by 2028.

In 2021, Indonesia was Vietnam's 12th largest trading partner. Bilateral trade turnover hit 11.4 billion USD, up 40% year-on-year and exceeding the 10 billion USD goal set by the two in their action program for conducting their strategic partnership for 2019-2023. The figure stood at 8.073 billion USD in the first seven months of 2022, an annual increase of 23%.

Indonesian Consul General Agustaviano Sofjan affirmed trade is a strong point that Indonesia wishes to cooperate in with other countries, especially Vietnam.

The promotion of economic and trade cooperation between nations not only benefits them but also contributes to a stable economic environment in the ASEAN region, he stressed.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hang from the Halal Certification Agency - HCA Vietnam said Indonesia is a potential market for Vietnamese exporters, especially those that produce quality products and obtain Halal certification.

Indonesia’s consumption market of Halal products reached 220 billion USD in 2018, and is expected to exceed 330 billion USD by 2025, she added./.