Hanoi (VNA) - There's a lot of room for closer ties in theagriculture and seafood sectors between Vietnam and Mexico, especially thanksto the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP), a meeting heard in Hanoi on October 22.

Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vice Chairman Dao Duy Khuong saidVietnam considers Mexico an important partner. Besides agriculture, the twosides could foster ties in tourism.

Saying Mexico was an open market, Khuong added that the country could act as abridge for Vietnamese businesses to penetrate deeper into markets in NorthAmerica thanks to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Meanwhile, Vietnam was an effective gate for Mexican companies to work withenterprises in the ASEAN bloc, Khuong said.

The vice chairman suggested the establishment of a group which will be incharge of researching potential goods of the two countries so businesses canship these products to each other's market to enhance bilateral trade.

For his part, Sergio Ley Lopez from the Mexican Business Council for ForeignTrade (COMCE) praised Vietnam’s achievement in economic and human development,saying Vietnam was a lucrative market for Mexican firms.

Currently, Mexico imports a lot of farm produce from Vietnam, typically riceand coffee, he said, adding that 70 percent of the rice sold in Mexico wasimported from Vietnam.

In the future, it was necessary for the two business communities to seekopportunities for new products that could be exported to each other, he said.

Mexico hoped to export beef products to Vietnam in the near future, he said,emphasising the importance of developing a process for food quarantine.

The meeting also saw a cooperation agreement on trade and investment inkedbetween VCCI and COMCE. The two sides hoped the agreement would facilitatebilateral trade and investment coordination between two business communities.

Mexico is Vietnam’s second biggest trade partner in Latin America while Vietnamis Mexico’s eighth largest partner in Asia-Pacific./.