HÀ NỘI – A one-day seminar to promote trade and investment activities between Việt Nam and France under the Việt Nam-European Union Free Trade Agreement was organised in Paris on Thursday.

The seminar was organised by Việt Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese Embassy in France and Business France, the national agency that supports international development of the French economy and authorities in Paris, reported Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in France.

About 80 enterprises from Việt Nam and France, including from Hưng Yên, Nghệ An and Quảng Bình provinces, participated in the seminar, advertising brands from Việt Nam’s key industries and products.

At the seminar, French and European businesses were invited to take part in Vietnam Foodexpo 2017, a large-scale international trade show for the food industry.

Speaking at the seminar, Nguyễn Mạnh Thắng, minister-counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in France, said economic and investment co-operation between Việt Nam and France had developed strongly in the past few years. France was the second largest European investor in Việt Nam with total capital investment to the tune of US$4.36 billion (4 billion euros).

The total value of bilateral trade between the two nations touched US$4.44 billion (4.07 billion euros) in 2015, Thắng said, adding that in EU, France was the third largest exporter to Việt Nam, after Germany and Italy. Among the ASEAN nations, Việt Nam’s export value to France is the highest.

The bilateral strategic partnership was signed in 2013 and has been realised through various activities, especially the French president Francois Hollande’s official visit to Việt Nam in September.

In September, Tạ Hoàng Linh, deputy director of Việt Nam Trade Promotion Agency under the industry and trade ministry, said Việt Nam ranked 90th among the 189 global economies on the parameter of ease of doing business as per the World Bank’s survey, a rise by three ranks from 2015.

Việt Nam exported to France electronic equipment and spare parts, garment textile, footwear, timber products, coffee and seafood, while France shipped medicine, chemicals, equipment, machinery, milk and dairy products and cosmetics to Việt Nam.

Philippe Yvergniaux, director of Business France’s international co-operation department, said about 2,000 French companies had exported goods to Việt Nam while 300 French businesses had made investments in the country.

Việt Nam has an attractive investment environment, political and social stability, high economic growth, improved legal environment and a young and dynamic population, he said.

Apart from large companies such as Airbus and Peugeot, many French small- and medium-sized enterprises operate in Việt Nam, he said, referring to business opportunities in transport infrastructure, agriculture, forestry and the fisheries sectors. - VNS