Typical Chilean enterprises highly appreciate Vietnam's development potential

Speaking at the meeting withPresident Luong Cuong, representatives of Chilean corporations and companies expressed their hope that businesses from both countries would make the best use of trade agreements to which both countries are members.

President Luong Cuong with prominent Chilean business leaders. (Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA)

According to the special correspondent of VNA, on the afternoon of November 11, in the capital Santiago de Chile, within the framework of his official visit to Chile, President Luong Cuong met with leaders of typical enterprises of the Chilean Production Promotion Association (SOFOFA).

SOFOFA was founded in 1883 with the participation of 22 of Chile's largest business associations, including more than 160 member companies, of which more than half are the companies with the largest capitalization on the Chilean stock market. In addition, there are 49 trade unions representing key sectors of the Chilean economy such as mining, forestry, pulp and paper, agro-industry, aquaculture, infrastructure and logistics, energy, wine, retail, information technology, etc.

At the meeting, representatives of leading corporations and companies in Chile highly appreciated the development potential of the Vietnamese market; hoping that businesses of the two countries would make the best use of the trade agreements of which the two countries are members.

Representatives of Chilean businesses expressed their admiration for the dynamic development of the Vietnamese economy in recent years, and hoped to seek more cooperation agreements with new partners to enter the Vietnamese market, thereby contributing to promoting and further strengthening cooperation in the fields of economics, trade and investment.

Affirming that President Luong Cuong's visit to Chile will mark a new turning point in the cooperative relationship between the two countries, businesses expressed their hope to cooperate with Vietnamese partners in areas such as mining, banking, finance, information technology and some other fields, and hoped to receive support and assistance from relevant Vietnamese agencies to soon have opportunities to cooperate and develop production and business in the coming time.

President Luong Cuong speaks at a meeting with prominent Chilean business leaders. (Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA)

Speaking at the meeting, the President highly appreciated the Ministry of Planning and Investment for proactively coordinating with SOFOFA and the Vietnamese Embassy in Chile to organize an important event within the framework of the President's official visit to Chile and towards the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Vietnam-Chile bilateral free trade agreement (2014-2024).

The President emphasized that the Chilean government has always attached importance to and wished to strengthen relations with Vietnam in its overall policy towards the Asia-Pacific region; while Vietnam considers Chile a partner of strategic importance and wishes to deepen relations in many fields.

The President said that over the past 50 years of construction and development, economic-investment-trade cooperation has always held an important position in the relationship between the two countries and has made many significant strides. Bilateral trade turnover as of September 2024 reached 1.57 billion USD, of which Vietnam exported 1.2 billion USD to Chile; thereby consolidating Chile's position as Vietnam's fourth largest trading partner in Latin America and Vietnam continues to be Chile's largest trading partner in ASEAN.

Regarding investment, Chile has four projects with a total registered capital of 0.3 million USD in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Assessing that despite the achievements, the potential for cooperation between the two countries still has much room for development, the President suggested a number of directions for cooperation between businesses of both sides, whereby both sides effectively implement and make the most of incentives from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement (VCFTA), not only contributing to the economic growth of both countries but also having diplomatic, cultural and social relations, creating a solid foundation for future cooperation.

The President also asked Chilean investors to study and expand investment cooperation in the fields of trade, renewable energy, agriculture, mining and deep mineral processing; and promote potential cooperation areas such as high-tech agriculture, climate change response, digital transformation, and high technology.

President Luong Cuong meets with prominent Chilean business leaders. (Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA)

Along with that, according to the President, business associations, especially SOFOFA, continue to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnamese Embassy in Chile, connecting the business community and relevant agencies of the two sides, promoting the role as an important bridge between businesses and international partners, helping to promote bilateral economic relations.

The President affirmed that Vietnam always cares about and accompanies the business community both domestically and internationally, respects and protects the legitimate and legal rights and interests of investors, as well as ensures the harmony of interests between the State, investors and the people; and commits to creating a favorable business and investment environment for foreign enterprises in general and Chile in particular.

The President believes that economic-investment-trade cooperation will continue to be an important pillar in the Vietnam-Chile relationship and the comprehensive partnership between the two countries will continue to develop increasingly well for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for peace, stability and development in the region and the world./.

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