The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan held here on Friday a workshop on trade cooperation between the two countries, with the hope to provide opportunities for both sides' businesses to exchange information and expand their business cooperation.

Bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Pakistan have finely developed over the past years, with two-way trade turnover reaching 222.7 million U.S. dollars in 2010 over 80 million U.S. dollars in 2005. In the first four months of 2011, it hit nearly 90 million U.S. dollars, VCCI Vice President Doan Duy Khuong addressed at the workshop.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972 and have signed agreements and memorandums of understanding in various areas, including diplomacy, trade, finance and banking, sciences and technologies and aquatic culture. Those documents are important legal framework that helps boost bilateral trade cooperation, Khuong said.

Pakistani Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood praised Vietnam's economic development in recent years, saying that impressed many countries in the world, including Pakistan.

Currently Pakistan exports materials to Vietnam's textile, leather and aquatic culture sectors, which help the country to make high quality products to export other major markets, including the EU. However, Pakistan's market share in Vietnam is still small, so the seminar is a good opportunity to further promote trade cooperation between the two countries, Mahmood said.