HCM City (VNA) – The Vietnam Chamber of Industryand Trade (VCCI) in Ho Chi Minh City partnered with the Embassy of Poland in Vietnam tohost a networking event in food and beverage to boost trade between the twocountries.

Maciej Duszynski, Chargé d'Affaires a.i of the Polish Embassy, highlighted the growing trade and investment cooperation between theEU and Vietnam, saying the EU has remained Vietnam’s second largest importerand Vietnam is now the EU’s major trade partner.

Thanks to that, the long-standing Vietnam-Poland relationshave grown constantly in all areas, including the trade of agricultural products and food, he said, taking note of discussions on this issue held by leadersof ministries and agencies from the two sides.

The Government of Poland is paying great attention toexpanding export portfolios to Vietnam, with finalsteps being undertaken for the shipment of beef products and blueberries to the Southeast Asian country.

Piotr Harasimowicz, Chief Representative Officer of thePolish Investment and Trade Agency in Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam has a favourable location in an Asian vibrant market region, and developed infrastructurefor trade expansion.

Vietnam is also an important buyer of Poland’s agriculturalproducts and food, he said, citing the fact that last year, Poland exportedmore than 143 million EUR worth of the products to Vietnam. Poland’s commodity shipmentsto Vietnam surged 21.5% while Vietnam’s imports from Poland rose by 26% year-on-year in the period from August 2020 to May 2021.

He affirmed that his agency will actively support Polishexporters to connect with Vietnamese enterprises and provide foreign investorswith information on conditions and rules for doing business in Poland.

Nguyen Huu Nam, Deputy Director of the VCCI in HCM City,said though both countries have advantages in agricultural production, their productsare not competitive but complementary to each other. Poland is currently inhigh demand for rice, basa fish, shrimp, mango, pineapple, passion fruit,coffee and cashew nut from Vietnam; and capable of supplying Vietnam with variousEU-standardised fresh and processed food and fruits, beef, lamb, pork andothers, he added.

Vietnam can learn from Poland’s experience in developinghi-tech agriculture, he continued. Vietnam also wants to receive Poland’ssupport in pushing for the EU’s early ratification of the EU-Vietnam InvestmentProtection Agreement (EVIPA) and removal of  the EC's “yellow card” warning against Vietnameseseafood.

These will have positive impacts, lifting the Vietnam-Polandtrade and investment relations to a new height, he emphasised./.