Vietnam will host a ministerial level forum on investment and trade between Vietnam and Latin America in Hanoi in early July.

At a meeting with Argentinian businesses on June 7, Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Nguyen Van Dao invites all Argentinian businesses to attend the forum, the first of its kind in Vietnam.

He said two-way trade between Vietnam and Latin America rose from 300 million USD in 2000 to 4.5 billion USD last year.

Vietnam has so far committed more than 7 billion USD in investment in Latin America while Latin American countries pledged to invest around 2 billion USD in Vietnam, he said.

According to Argentina’s Customs statistics, two-way trade between Argentina and Vietnam hit a record 971.7 million USD last year, a year-on-year rise of 17 percent. The figure was 168.3 million USD in the first three months of the year, a year-on-year rise of 12.6 percent.

Last year, Vietnam exported to Argentina footwear, rubber and rubber products, garment and textile products, machines and mechanical and electronic equipments while importing soybeans, animal fat and plant oil, cereals and fuels from the Latin American country./.