HANOI: Vietnam and Israel have agreed to step up the effective rollout of the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (Vifta) and foster cooperation in trade, industry and innovation.
The consensus was reached during a working session between Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Nguyen Ky Son and Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat in Jerusalem on Monday.
Barkat hailed Vietnam as one of the world’s key manufacturing hubs, supported by a population of more than 100 million, a diligent and disciplined workforce, and an increasingly attractive investment climate.
“These attributes offer Israeli firms more opportunities to widen partnerships, investment and commercial deals in Vietnam,” said Barkat.
Vietnam-Israel relations are flourishing across a wide range of areas, from economy and trade to people-to-people exchanges, he added.
“With Vifta now in force, the two countries should make better use of the complementary economic strengths to raise two-way trade to new heights,” he said.
Barkat proposed that the two sides convene the next meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee at an early date to review cooperation, clear obstacles and set new directions for future collaboration.
Turning to investment prospects, Barkat said Israel is one of the world’s leading innovation hubs, with strengths in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, medical technology and high-tech agriculture.
Around 80% of Israeli firms operate in cutting-edge sectors and are well versed with commercialising novel products in global markets.
“Israel stands ready to host Vietnamese business delegations scouting for market opportunities, and is weighing its own trade missions to Vietnam to pinpoint new investment and cooperation prospects,” he added.
Son reiterated that Vietnam values its friendship and broad-based cooperation with Israel, especially in economy, trade, sci-tech and innovation.
According to Son, Vifta, which came into force in November 2024, has given bilateral trade a powerful boost, pushing flows near the US$4bil mark and cementing Vietnam’s status as one of Israel’s key trade partners in Asia, he said.
As there remains ample untapped potential, particularly in sectors where Israel’s technological edges meet Vietnam’s strong development needs, he called on both sides to make fuller use of Vifta’s preferential terms to scale up investment, technology transfer and business connectivity.
He also suggested Israel continue widening market access for Vietnamese products while bolstering sci-tech cooperation by combining Israeli tech expertise with Vietnam’s resources and market potential.
Host and guest promised to keep agencies and business communities in regular contact to effectively deliver on the agreed areas, thus driving economic, trade and investment ties.
Data released at the meeting showed that two-way trade hit US$3.63bil last year, an 11.8% annual gain. Of this, Vietnam’s exports totalled US$865mil, up 8.9%.
During the January to May period, bilateral trade neared US$1.6bil. Vietnam’s exports to Israel jumped 30.6% year-on-year to US$462mil.
If the current growth momentum holds, full-year trade is on track to reach around US$3.9bil, with Vietnam’s exports set to surpass US$1bil for the first time.
On the investment side, Israel now has 45 active projects worth some US$156mil in Vietnam, while Vietnamese companies have poured roughly US$78mil into Israel. — Viet Nam News/ANN
