VCCI and CACI join hands to elevate Vietnam–Algeria business cooperation

During Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s official visit to Algeria, on 19 November 2025, the Prime Ministers of the two countries witnessed the signing of a number of important cooperation documents, including the Memorandum of Understanding between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACI).

This is considered a strategic step forward, opening a new chapter in economic and trade relations between the two countries, especially in the context that Vietnam and Algeria have just upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Partnership.

According to the memorandum, VCCI and CACI will coordinate to organize various promotional activities, direct business-to-business (B2B) matching programs, and share information on trade fairs and exhibitions in each country. This network of contacts is expected to become a “hotline” supporting businesses of both sides in seeking partners, accessing market information, and removing barriers to market entry.

VCCI expects that this new mechanism will create momentum for joint initiatives to produce concrete and rapid results, in line with the long-term interests of the business communities of both countries.

VCCI President Hồ Sỹ Hùng emphasized, “Through this Memorandum of Understanding, VCCI wishes to elevate the economic partnership between Vietnam and Algeria to a new height. Our strategic goals include promoting bilateral trade, facilitating information exchange, and encouraging more diverse and sustainable models of investment cooperation between the business communities of the two countries.”

Vietnam and Algeria have enjoyed a long-standing traditional friendship for decades, marked by mutual trust and support in many fields. However, bilateral trade currently stands at only around USD 200 million, a modest figure compared to the potential of the two economies, whose goods structures are complementary.

Of this total, Vietnam runs an almost absolute trade surplus of about USD 192.3 million, mainly thanks to exports of agricultural products, seafood, consumer goods, and electronic components. On the Algerian side, the market is considered highly promising due to strong import demand and its strategic location in North Africa, enabling Vietnamese goods to reach the broader West African region.

Vietnamese businesses are currently paying particular attention to export opportunities to Algeria in areas such as agricultural products (cashew nuts, coffee, pepper, and rice), processed seafood, electrical and electronic equipment, construction materials, consumer goods, textiles and footwear, logistics cooperation, Halal services, and solar energy.

Conversely, Algerian businesses also wish to increase exports to Vietnam of products such as dates, olives, minerals, and fertilizers, while seeking trilateral cooperation in aquaculture and food production.

In the investment field, the Bir Seba oil and gas project of the PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), with total investment of more than USD 1.26 billion, is considered one of Vietnam’s most successful overseas investment projects. This success demonstrates mutual trust and provides a foundation for promoting new cooperation projects in energy, mining, infrastructure, and renewable energy.

The VCCI President stated that VCCI stands ready to support Algerian businesses in accessing the Vietnamese market and the broader ASEAN region, while hoping that CACI will help Vietnamese businesses explore new economic zones and opportunities in the energy and mining sectors in Algeria. Through Algeria, Vietnamese enterprises have the opportunity to expand their presence into North and West Africa — regions rich in potential but still relatively untapped by Vietnamese businesses.

The signing of the memorandum between VCCI and CACI comes at a time when Vietnam–Algeria relations are entering a new phase after being upgraded to a Strategic Partnership. This is not only a cooperation document but also a joint affirmation of both sides’ determination to expand comprehensive economic cooperation, creating a solid bridge for the business communities of the two countries to fully capitalize on the advantages of each market.

During the official visit to Algeria, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính also encouraged Vietnamese businesses to focus on investment cooperation in Algeria in energy, including oil and gas exploration, petrochemical refining, wind and solar energy development; and to explore investment opportunities in agriculture, fisheries, agricultural and seafood processing, manufacturing, science, and technology, as Algeria offers favourable geography, climate, natural resources, and extensive potential for investment.

With direct support from the two governments, along with rising demand from businesses, Vietnam–Algeria cooperation is expected to enter a stronger, more substantive, and more sustainable growth phase in the coming years.

To improve feasibility and accelerate the implementation of cooperation initiatives, the two sides proposed the establishment of a Working Group. This content has been included in the VCCI–CACI Memorandum of Understanding. The business members of the Working Group will act as focal points to review and clarify objectives and activities for each project and sector according to business needs.

The Working Group will take proactive measures to identify export products and secure solid market positions in each country, with the aim of diversifying and expanding exported product groups and promoting bilateral trade exchanges. Algerian enterprises and investors in the Working Group will negotiate with Vietnamese partners to identify specific cooperation opportunities so that Vietnam can further increase exports to the Algerian market and vice versa, especially in technology, agriculture, digital transformation, energy, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and tourism promotion.

In addition, the Working Group will support businesses in addressing challenges, particularly in relation to market procedures and regulations, logistics, tariffs, and other specialized regulations, while providing policy recommendations to the governments of both countries to improve the business environment and enhance competitiveness for enterprises.

The concretization of cooperation demands and aspirations according to each enterprise’s conditions is expected to mark a major change in the realization of the contents of the VCCI–CACI Memorandum of Understanding.

At present, several companies already have business ties and are leveraging advantages in the Algerian market, such as the PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation, ROX Group (oil and gas, energy), Intimex, and Hanfimex (food processing, rice, spices). VCCI expects these enterprises to continue playing a pioneering role in sharing experience with other Vietnamese businesses seeking to enter the Algerian market.