Development Potential of Vietnam-Mongolia Trade Ties

VCCI President Pham Tan Cong (R) presents a gift to Mongolian Ambassador Jigjee Sereejav as a token of appreciation and friendship during their meeting at VCCI headquarters 

Speaking at the recent meeting with VCCI President Pham Tan Cong at VCCI headquarters, the Mongolian Ambassador said that although trade cooperation between the two countries was still limit ed, statistics from the Mongolian Bureau of Statistics showed a clear growth in bilateral trade cooperation. Trade between the two countries reached US$81 million in 2021, US$85 million in 2022 and US$65 million in the first seven months of this year.

Citing evidence for development potential, the Mongolian Ambassador mentioned that at a pharmaceutical industry event organized by Vietnam last year, pharmaceutical companies from both sides worked together and also set a goal of signing cooperation projects worth US$100 million. “That’s just the goal of the pharmaceutical industry, which shows that businesses of the two countries still have many opportunities to cooperate with each other,” said the Mongolian Ambassador.

The Mongolian Ambassador said that the two sides had many areas for business cooperation such as livestock, agriculture, tourism, and pharmaceuticals. “Vietnam has strengths in agricultural products, while Mongolia has many rare herbal ingredients that can cooperate with businesses that produce traditional medicine, functional foods or can export goat meat to Vietnam," the Ambassador said.

According to the Mongolian Embassy in Vietnam, tourism is also a potential field of cooperation between the two countries. There are about 18,000 Vietnamese tourists traveling to Mongolia every year. Mongolia also aims to bring more than 1,800 tourists from Mongolia to Vietnam.

 “Recently, I worked with Vietnam’s Vietjetair. Currently, Vietjetair has a license to fly directly to Mongolia. It is expected that in the near future, direct flights from Vietnam to Mongolia will be deployed," said the Mongolian Ambassador.

Ambassador Jigjee Sereejav emphasized that in order for the cooperation activities of the two countries’ businesses to be long-lasting, the two sides need to increase meetings and exchange information regularly. Therefore, the Ambassador expressed his hope that VCCI will promote coordination with the Embassy and the Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to build cooperation programs and business connection activities such as discussions and organizing business delegations, find market information, investment opportunities to create a solid bridge, thereby contributing to increasing trade turnover between the two countries.

In particular, the Ambassador hoped that the Vietnam-Mongolia Business Council would be soon established to promote more vibrant business and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The Ambassador also informed the VCCI President that the President of Mongolia will visit Vietnam in early November. Within the framework of the visit, the Embassy of Mongolia in Vietnam wishes to organize a Vietnam-Mongolia Business Forum to create new steps to promote bilateral relations between the two countries.

Agreeing with the Ambassador’s proposals, VCCI President Pham Tan Cong expressed his hope that the two sides will have good cooperation during their term to bring effective cooperation results. “The potential for economic cooperation between Vietnam and Mongolia is much greater than the results achieved today. Vietjetair’s opening of direct flights hopes to create easier opportunities for businesses on both sides. In particular, tourism will also have the opportunity to grow stronger after removing the visa," the VCCI President emphasized.

VCCI President said that taking the opportunity of the visit of the President of Mongolia, the two sides need to enhance business cooperation between the two countries. VCCI is ready to cooperate with the Mongolian Embassy in organizing the Business Forum between the two countries and other promotional activities in the future to further develop business cooperation between the two countries.

VCCI President said that 2024 would be the year the two countries celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations. “The visit of the President of Mongolia will be a new beginning for further upgrading economic and business cooperation between the two countries,” the VCCI President affirmed.

VCCI President assessed that Vietnam and Mongolia still had a lot of potential to further increase bilateral trade turnover. VCCI commits to closely coordinate with the Embassy, the Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and related organizations to create an exchange and connection environment for businesses of the two countries in the coming time.