Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thị Thắng (middle) and Argentine Ambassador to Việt Nam Marcos Antonio Bednarski (second from right) at the meeting. — Photo moit.gov.vn

BUENOS AIRES — To further boost trade and investment and deepen comprehensive cooperation across multiple areas, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thị Thắng proposed that Việt Nam and Argentina strengthen dialogue and information exchange, increase delegation exchanges at all levels, and step up trade and investment promotion, scientific and technical cooperation and cultural exchanges.

At the eighth meeting of the Việt Nam–Argentina Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific–Technological Cooperation, which was held online on Friday, both sides reviewed recent cooperation outcomes and highlighted the strong growth of bilateral trade over the past decade, particularly in agriculture and industry.

The two sides welcomed Argentina’s inauguration of its Agro-Industrial Attaché Office in Việt Nam in early July, viewing it as a new milestone in bilateral cooperation. This is one of only six specialised agricultural and industrial offices established by Argentina abroad, reflecting Việt Nam’s strategic importance to Argentina.

Argentina is currently Việt Nam’s third-largest trading partner in Latin America, while Việt Nam ranks as Argentina’s sixth-largest partner worldwide. In 2024, bilateral trade reached US$4.1 billion, up 19 per cent year-on-year, with a highly complementary trade structure.

Addressing the meeting, Thắng emphasised that Argentina, as an active member of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), served as a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter the South American market, while Việt Nam would continue to act as a bridge for Argentina to access ASEAN and the wider Asia–Pacific region.

For his part, Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Fernando Brun reaffirmed that Argentina was a reliable, stable, and promising trading partner of Việt Nam.

He noted that at the MERCOSUR Ministerial Meeting on September 16, member countries had highlighted the priority of fostering dialogue with Việt Nam to strengthen economic and trade ties. He also reiterated Argentina’s support for the early launch of trade negotiations between MERCOSUR and Việt Nam.

Thắng called on Argentina to continue supporting, within MERCOSUR forums, the early start of trade agreement negotiations between Việt Nam and the bloc. She affirmed that the signing of such an agreement would lay an important foundation for both sides to harness their advantages, create new momentum for trade growth, and develop a strategic economic and trade partnership between Việt Nam and MERCOSUR.

Both sides agreed with the recommendations of the Technical Group on promoting the signing of cooperation agreements in agriculture, finance, transport, and science and technology, thereby creating a favourable legal framework for joint activities. They also stressed the need to expand cooperation in emerging fields such as information technology, space science, the peaceful use of nuclear energy, agriculture, and livestock. — VNA/VNS