The Timor-Leste Government, through the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry (MTCI), and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have shown interest in cooperating in the commerce and industry sectors.

In this way, in the beginning of November, a delegation of eleven persons, composed of representatives from the Vietnam Government and the private sector, carried out a visit to Timor-Leste. The delegation met with the Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, Gil da Costa Alves and representatives of the Timor-Leste Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Portuguese acronym CCI-TL) where they discussed the future of cooperation between both countries in the commerce and industry sectors.

In a press conference, in the Conference Room of the old Lama Market, in Díli, the Vietnam delegation chief, Dao Ngoc Chuong, stated that Vietnam is available to support Timor-Leste in the Commerce and industry sectors, and at the same time the showed pleased with the availability revealed by Timor-Leste concerning investment from this country.

The General-Director of the Asia Pacific Market Department stated that the Vietnam investors are willing to invest in Timor-Leste, namely in areas such as: agriculture, natural resources, commerce and industry.

In the meeting with the CCI-TL representatives, there were discussions on the involvement of the private sector in the development of Commerce and Industry between Timor-Leste and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

On the other hand, the National Director of the External Commerce (Portuguese acronym DNCE), Hélio Sinatra Tavares, in his declaration to the journalists, assumed the commitment to narrow cooperation with Vietnam in the commerce and industry areas and also referred that, in this visit, discussions over the possibility to establish a market between both countries was approached, a market where each country’s products can be sold in a way to stimulate Timor-Leste and Vietnam’s economic growth.

Vietnam is one of the countries that, after the war, saw its economy grow quickly and it is also known as the biggest rice producer, at the world level, from which many countries buy rice, including Timor-Leste.