HCM CITY - The Vietnam International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo) opened yesterday in HCM City with 520 companies showcasing their products at nearly 600 stalls.

They are displaying products like paper, building materials, interior decoration items, car components, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, textile and garments, machinery, electrical-electronic appliances, craft products, consumer goods.

The exhibitors are from 20 countries and territories including China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Taiwan.

Indonesia is participating for the first time in this annual event with 60 stalls in its national pavilion.

“After studying carefully we chose this expo in HCM City as a venue to directly introduce our enterprises to potential Vietnamese partners to boost bilateral trade and investment,” Indonesian ambassador Ibnu Hadi said.

Indonesia organised a seminar on the sidelines on turning challenges into opportunities in the seafood industry as part of the same effort.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hồ Thị Kim Thoa said the expo was a bridge enabling Vietnamese and international enterprises to meet and find co-operation and promote trade and investment.

“It gathers investors and producers in the sectors of machinery, equipment, chemicals, building materials, agriculture, food processing, textiles and others from around the world,” she said.

This year the Hà Nội Department of Industry and Trade is highlighting the message of preserving and developing craft villages.

Today there will be a seminar on the role of new technologies at small and medium sized enterprises amid global integration.

The expo is on at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7 where another exhibition on hardware and hand tools also opened yesterday with 152 domestic and foreign companies displaying their items.

Both exhibitions, organised by Vinexad, will go on until Saturday. — VNS