The event featured the participation of numerous parliamentary and business representatives from both countries to discuss opportunities and solutions for expanding bilateral economic relations.

At the seminar, Chairman of the Argentina - Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group, Deputy Santiago Pauli, emphasized the inherent complementarity between the two economies. Vietnam has a large demand for agricultural products for consumption, processing, and export, while Argentina possesses a highly competitive agro-industrial sector, along with strengths in biotechnology and genetics.

According to Pauli, Argentina - Vietnam relations need to expand beyond the framework of merchandise trade exchanges toward building shared value chains, promoting investment, and expanding access to new markets. With Vietnam’s position in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a region with over 600 million people, the two countries have many opportunities to transform current trade relations into a substantive manufacturing partnership.

The Chairman of the Argentina - Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group also highly appreciated the foundation of technical cooperation between the two countries. Since 1998, Argentina and Vietnam have carried out more than 15 joint projects, achieving concrete results in fields such as dairy product development, improvement of soybean varieties, fruit trees, and rice production. This serves as an important foundation for both sides to continue expanding cooperation.

Pauli underscored the need to prioritize promoting the strategic partnership and perfecting mechanisms that facilitate bilateral cooperation, including agreements on investment, double taxation avoidance, air transport, agro-industrial cooperation, and preferential trade between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).

For her part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Ngo Minh Nguyet stated that Vietnam is currently Argentina’s 6th largest trade partner globally, while Argentina is Vietnam’s 3rd largest trade partner in Latin America. Bilateral trade relations are highly complementary, as the two economies do not directly compete but possess many strengths that can supplement each other.

According to Vietnam Customs data, bilateral trade turnover in 2025 reached US$4.27 billion, up 4.1% compared to 2024. Of this total, Vietnam exported nearly US$877 million to Argentina and imported approximately US$3.39 billion from Argentina.

Ambassador Ngo Minh Nguyet laid stress on the huge potential for cooperation in sectors such as critical minerals, biotechnology, renewable energy, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, Vietnamese machinery, equipment, electronic components, and consumer goods can continue supplying high-quality, competitively priced inputs for Argentina’s industrial modernization.

The Ambassador also noted that Vietnam and Mercosur officially launched negotiations on a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in December 2025, with the first round of negotiations currently taking place in Buenos Aires. In addition, Argentina has officially expressed its intention to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Vietnam is a founding member.

Ambassador Ngo Minh Nguyet remarked that the signing of the Vietnam - Mercosur PTA and Argentina’s potential accession to the CPTPP will unlock major benefits for businesses of both countries, contributing to reducing trade barriers, enhancing competitiveness, creating a stable legal environment, and encouraging long-term investment.

Meanwhile, President of AVCC Guillermo Perez Cena said that Argentina still has much untapped potential in the Vietnamese market, particularly in food, agro-industry, technology, and value-added products. He emphasized that entering the Vietnamese market is not merely about finding buyers, but requires enterprises to build trust, understand the market, adapt to local culture, and establish long-term cooperative relationships.

Perez Cena went on to say that AVCC aims to serve as an institutional and business bridge between the two countries, supporting Argentine enterprises in accessing the Vietnamese market while facilitating Vietnamese businesses to find suppliers, strategic partners, and investment opportunities in Argentina.

He called for strengthened coordination among chambers of commerce, enterprises, universities, state agencies, and trade associations to form an effective cooperation network between the two countries.

Concluding the seminar, Santiago Pauli affirmed that Argentina - Vietnam relations rest on a historical foundation, present cooperation results, and especially great potential for the future. He stressed that the responsibility of parliamentarians is to help turn that potential into more trade, more investment, more cooperation, and more opportunities for the people of both nations.

Source: VOV

https://english.vov.vn/en/economy/seminar-promotes-argentina-vietnam-trade-and-investment-links-post1327440.vov