Hoang Nhu Ly, Head of Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, delivers his greetings to the people of Vietnam and Taiwan and to the readers of Taipei Times on the occasion of Vietnam's national day celebration.
The Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei was set up in 1993 and since then there has been a significant development in Vietnam and Taiwan relations in trade, economic, art and cultural and tourism fields. There are four departments in the Office, including Business, Investment, Consul and Labor.
In the area of trade, the relation between the two countries has gone a substantial growth. Hoang Nhu Ly indicated that Vietnam-Taiwan trade reached US$3.3 billion. There are over 30,000 Taiwanese investors there and the sum of Taiwan's investment has been over US$3 billion. "Vietnam is expecting to has its entry in WTO in 2005. After that, I think the economic and trade ties between Vietnam and Taiwan will be closer," said Hoang Nhu Ly.
Vietnam exports to Taiwan are agricultural products, textiles, shoes, fruit, while Taiwan exports to Vietnam are machinery, motorcycles, cement, vehicles, according to Hoang Nhu Ly.
Vietnam is one of the most attractive places for investors in Asia. Simple processing makes it easy for investors to invest. "Vietnam's government offers a lot of benefits to Taiwanese investors, so I'm confident that Vietnam will continue be one of Taiwan's most favorite investment destinations over the years," he said.
With a population of 78 million people, an area nine times that of Taiwan, Vietnam offers an abundant labor force and low monthly wages. Vietnamese are hard working people and able to adopt flexibly. Since 1993, Vietnam and Taiwan has signed four agreements namely: protection of Taiwan investors in Vietnam, prevention of double taxation, agricultural and fishing cooperation, research and development, and labor. The two countries have signed an economic accord to further strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation.Taiwanese investors including Chingfong Group, Uni-President Enterprise, Wei-Tan Group, Taiwan Plastic Group are among the biggest foreign investors in Vietnam. However, Taiwanese investors ranked the biggest investor in Vietnam and include light and medium industry, in manufacturing as well as in the service industry such as hotel, resorts, and entertainment field.
Tourism is growing at an unprecedented level. Averagely, there is more than 200,000 Taiwanese go visit Vietnam for sightseeing every year. Travel to Vietnam is convenient as China Airlines and EVA Airways offer two daily flights.
For labors, Taiwan is also one of Vietnam's leading labor markets with current employee of more than 46,000 Vietnam labors. Hoang Nhu Ly said the numbers of Vietnam labors continue to grow due to their performance is highly admired by Taiwanese employers for their dedication and commitment. In art and culture, Taiwan schools have entered into sister ties with schools in Vietnam for cultural and educational exchanges. Vietnam regularly sends art and culture troupe to perform in Taiwan. In this May, a Vietnamese dance troupe was on stage in Far Eastern Hotel Taipei to perform Vietnamese dancing and singing. Another troupe will come to tour around the island to show off Vietnamese music and dancing later this September. Hoang Nhu Ly is confident that there will be increasing interaction between the two countries, and the economic, trade and cultural ties will be continue to flourish in the future.
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