National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended a Vietnam - Armenia Business Forum in Yerevan on April 2 as part of his official visit to Armenia.

Also attending the forum were NA Vice Chairman Tran Quang Phuong, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Vice President of the Armenian NA Hakob Arshakyan, and representatives of 60 businesses of both countries.

Speaking at the forum, Arshakyan welcomed the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese NA led by Chairman Tran Thanh Man on an official visit to Armenia, affirming that the visit is a driving force to bring the relationship between the two countries to new heights.

According to the Armenian leader, trade turnover between the two countries has been increasing in recent years. However, the potential and room for cooperation are still very large, which need to be promoted and exploited strongly on a larger scale in the coming time, especially in areas such as food, education, science and technology, high technology. The forum was an opportunity for the two sides to exchange and discuss measures to develop economic cooperation more substantially and effectively in the coming time.

NA Chairman Man stated that the Vietnamese delegation’s visit to Armenia not only aims to strengthen political and parliamentary relations, but also opens up opportunities to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation - areas in which both countries have great potential to exploit together.

He affirmed that in recent times, the NA and the Government of Vietnam have directed the drastic and effective implementation of institutional improvement, considering this a "breakthrough of breakthroughs" with the research, amendment and completion of many important laws such as the Investment Law, the Bidding Law, and the Land Law to ensure conformity and timely response to practical requirements, thereby helping to continue improving the investment and business environment in a favourable, open and competitive direction.

Thanks to that, Vietnam has achieved many remarkable achievements in socio-economic development, highly appreciated by the international community and become a safe and attractive investment destination for investors as well as promoting exchange and trade activities with many encouraging results. Vietnam has become one of the 40 largest economies in the world and ranked in the group of 20 leading countries in terms of international trade. Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2024 reached over 7%. Regarding the investment environment, Vietnam is positively evaluated by the international community and investors. Many foreign investors have chosen Vietnam as a strategic production hub, connecting with global supply chains.

Suggesting some specific directions for businesses of the two countries to consider and cooperate in the coming time, Man said that Armenia is known as a "Silicon Valley" of the region with a strongly developing information technology industry, while Vietnam is also promoting digital transformation in all fields. He encouraged businesses of the two sides to cooperate in developing software, artificial intelligence (AI) and technology solutions for education, healthcare, and smart urban management.

Regarding agriculture and food processing, Vietnam can supply tropical agricultural products such as coffee, cashew nuts and seafood, while Armenia can share its experience in processing high-quality agricultural products, especially wine and dried fruits. Cooperation in this field will not only increase trade turnover but also meet the diverse needs of the two countries' markets.

The NA Chairman suggested that businesses from both countries research and invest in solar, wind and small hydropower projects, taking advantage of Armenia's advanced technology and Vietnam's abundant resources.

In order to promote more comprehensive and effective cooperation between the business communities of the two countries with a focus on investment and trade, the top legislator requested both sides to actively create conditions for Vietnamese and Armenian enterprises to regularly have opportunities to exchange, seek and exploit cooperation and investment opportunities, especially in areas with great potential and demand.

The two countries need to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially at high levels, to consolidate political trust and promote cooperation in potential areas. Vietnam is ready to act as a bridge for Armenia to strengthen relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and hopes that Armenia will act as a bridge for Vietnam to strengthen cooperation with countries in the Asia-Europe economic region, he said.

The Chairman noted that ministries, sectors and associations should promote their role as bridges to promote exchanges and cooperation according to the principle of "mutual benefit and mutual success", on the basis of complementing each other, helping businesses to cooperate deeply and comprehensively, improve competitiveness, exploit each other's markets and regional markets, and participate deeply in regional and global value chains and production chains.

He suggested the two governments continue to make efforts to improve the investment and business environment, creating optimal conditions for businesses of the two countries to strengthen cooperation and successfully implement investment and business activities in accordance with legal regulations. At the same time, the business communities of the two countries should proactively connect, learn, and share information to have effective investment cooperation plans and projects, support each other in exploiting each other's markets, as well as expand the exploitation of the ASEAN and Central Asian markets with a lot of potential and room. "The National Assembly and the Government of Vietnam are committed to always accompanying and creating all favourable conditions in accordance with legal regulations for Armenian businesses to invest and do business successfully, sustainably, and long-term in Vietnam", he promised.

Representatives of Armenian businesses believed that despite being geographically far apart, the two countries have many similarities. Over the past 30 years, Vietnam and Armenia have continuously promoted effective cooperation on both bilateral and multilateral levels. This is a solid foundation for businesses of the two countries to carry out economic cooperation activities in areas where both sides have strength. The Armenian businesses said they are ready to cooperate with Vietnam in areas of mutual strength such as textiles, tourism to promote economic cooperation, bringing mutual benefits to the two countries.

In his concluding remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha highly appreciated the opinions, discussions and very open proposals on policies and solutions to enhance investment and business cooperation between Vietnam and Armenia.

He hoped that businesses of the two countries would increase exchanges and share experiences, promote the achievements of cooperation to take advantage of and effectively exploit the potential, open up new cooperation opportunities, and maximise the strengths of each country.

The Deputy PM suggested businesses of the two countries take advantage of and effectively implement the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Armenia is a member, to promote the exchange of goods, increase import-export, enhance market opening and create more favourable conditions for businesses of both sides, striving to increase bilateral trade turnover in the coming years, to make it commensurate with the potential, strengths and good cooperative relations between the two countries.

On the morning of April 2, NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife, along with the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese NA, visited the History Museum of Armenian, which preserves the precious historical and cultural values of the heroic Armenian people./.