|
(VEN) - Vietnam and Austria officially established a diplomatic relation in 1972, and trade between the two countries has been growing well. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently signed a decision to establish a Vietnam Division of the Vietnam-Austria Joint Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation. This has had a positive impact on bilateral trade.
Vietnamese General Department of Customs' statistics reveal that trade between Vietnam and Austria came to US$267.401 million in 2010, up 4.12 percent from 2009, with Vietnam exporting to Austria US$144.022 million worth of goods. In this regard, Vietnamese exports increased strongly in September, November and December due to increased demands and mainly included wood and wood products that totaled US$6.2 million in value, textiles and garments (US$20.79 million), and footwear of different kinds (US$51.94 million).
Vietnam imported from Austria cattle feed, materials for pharmaceutical production, pharmaceuticals, paper of different kinds, steel and iron, machinery, equipment and spare parts worth a total of US$123.37 million.
Bilateral trade continued growing well in the first four months of this year. In these four months, Vietnam exported goods worth US$76.56 million to Austria (up almost 317.2 percent from the same time in 2010) while importing goods, mostly machinery, equipment and pharmaceuticals, worth US$53.79 million from this market (up 195.5 percent from the first four months of 2010). Vietnam exported US$22.77 million more than it imported from Austria in the first four months of this year.
Textile/garment and footwear are Vietnam's major exports to Austria. Vietnam's wood and wood product exports to Austria in the first four months of this year decreased considerably compared to the same period of last year due to economic recession. Communication equipment was Vietnam's top export to Austria in terms of value growth. Austrian businesses increased investment in Vietnam so exports to Austria are mainly products of joint ventures between Vietnamese and Austrian partners.
By February 25, 2011, there were 16 effective Austrian investment projects totaling US$26.625 million in Vietnam, an average of almost US$1.7 million per project, which is lower than the country's average. Of the 16 projects, nine projects are Austrian wholly owned with a combined investment capital of US$19.875 million and seven are joint venture projects with a total investment capital of US$6.75 million. These projects are mostly aimed at selling Austrian equipment and technology. The Austrian government currently has policies targeting the Vietnamese market, which focus on infrastructure-related industries like roads, railway, hospital, training and energy; production industries such as chemical, paper, plastic and pharmaceutical industries; and projects as it has assessed that Vietnam has economic and political stability.
Experts say that Austria has developed economy, science, technology and education and holds many advanced technologies, and that Vietnam is a developing country that has a large demand for infrastructure construction especially urban road construction so businesses from the two countries can work with each other in these fields.
Austria's leading groups have recognized Vietnam's economic development and improved investment environment so they are looking for opportunities to invest in important projects in the fields of tourism, healthcare, education and infrastructure here in Vietnam./.
By Hung Cuong
|