With a large population and a rapidly growing Halal food market, the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region is a potential market for Vietnamese businesses.

The Middle East and North Africa have high demand for fruits and vegetables, offering Vietnamese firms a great opportunity to boost exports, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Middle East, North Africa and South Africa are potential markets for tea products from Lai Chau province but their export is still modest due to a lack of information on each other and effective connections, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu has said.

Among efforts to diversify markets for local farm produce, the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau is working to boost the export of tea products to the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.

Vietnam was excluded in the list of 17 countries facing the risk of extremely high water stress, according to the Washington D.C.-based World Resources Institute (WRI)’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas.

Indonesia-based telecom company Indosat Ooredoo plans to invest about 140 million USD to expand its nationwide 4G network coverage from 81 percent to 90 percent of the country’s 264 million population by the end of the year.

The Moroccan Government wants to enhance cooperation with Vietnam in various spheres and will make every effort to promote relations between the two governments, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani has said.

Vietnam always attaches importance to developing the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Morocco, considering the country a priority partner in North Africa.

Algeria and North Africa are among important areas to Vietnam News Agency (VNA) as well as Vietnamese audiences, VNA Director General Nguyen Duc Loi said.

Algerian Ambassador to Vietnam Mohamed Berrah hosted a banquet in Hanoi on November 2 to mark the 61st National Day of the North African country (November 1, 1954).