The Ambassador of Pakistan to Vietnam, Mr. Kohdayar Marri and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh | Nhat Bac

Pakistan and Vietnam Boost Green Transition Cooperation, Aiming for USD 10 Billion in Trade

Vietnam–Pakistan Trade Development Strategy

Pakistan is one of Vietnam’s most important trade partners in South Asia. In 2024, bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached USD 850 million, an increase of 20.5% compared to 2023. Of this, Vietnam’s exports to Pakistan reached USD 522.4 million (up 35.1%), and imports from Pakistan amounted to USD 327.7 million (up 2.8%).

Both countries possess strategic geographical positions, a young population, large markets, and are strongly oriented towards green growth and digital transformation models. Connecting cooperation in key areas such as high-tech agriculture, logistics, education, science and technology, innovation, and cultural exchange will form a solid foundation for a future comprehensive partnership.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Vietnam, Mr. Kohdayar Marri, had a working session to discuss strategies for developing bilateral relations with Director of the Institute for Policy Management, Ms. Le Nguyen Thien Nga. The focus was on priority sectors, global trends, and alignment with the Vietnam–Pakistan development strategy. Joint activities are to be guided by digital and green transformation strategies, promoting bilateral trade through flagship products and mutual support for expanding into global markets.

Ambassador Kohdayar Marri and Director Le Nguyen Thien Nga exchanged views on Vietnam’s policy orientations and trade promotion trends in the new era. They emphasized the importance of sharing investment promotion experience, supporting businesses as a long-term linkage platform, initially focusing on agriculture, science and technology, and cultural and educational exchanges.

The Ambassador of Pakistan to Vietnam Mr. Kohdayar Marri and Director Institute of Policy Administration Le Nguyen Thien Nga | Linh Linh – Bao Thang

ALL COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE COMPILED AND MEASURED BASED ON INTERCONNECTED DATA SYSTEMS

Based on development goals and recent implementation of the National Data Strategy research series for the Government, the Institute for Policy Management proposes a flagship program to coordinate with Ministries and select appropriate localities in Vietnam. The Institute recommends that the Embassy refer to models developed for the Government and Ministry of Public Security under the National Data Strategy, to jointly lead surveys and listen to the needs of the business communities in both countries.

This includes organizing joint programs to explore cooperation opportunities in specific fields grounded in scientific research and integrated bilateral data, to jointly assess and select key sectors under digital and green transformation strategies, aiming to reach over USD 1 billion in bilateral trade in the near future.

TARGETING BILATERAL TRADE OF OVER USD 1 BILLION

Ambassador Kohdayar Marri is highly recognized for his efforts as a bridge between ministries, localities, and enterprises of both sides to further promote cooperation. He has also actively participated in many seminars and conferences, providing information on the Halal market in general and the Pakistani market in particular to Vietnamese institutions and businesses.

In his linkage efforts, the Ambassador hopes to soon resume bilateral cooperation mechanisms, starting with the Joint Trade Committee. He proposes that both sides strengthen economic-trade and investment cooperation, leverage each other’s strengths, and strive to raise bilateral trade turnover to over USD 1 billion. In addition, he calls for expanded cooperation in culture, education and training, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Previously, during a meeting with Ambassador Kohdayar Marri, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh acknowledged the Ambassador’s contributions and expressed hope for Pakistan to actively resume bilateral mechanisms, starting with the Joint Trade Committee, and increase cooperation in economy, trade, and investment.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also appreciated Ambassador Kohdayar Marri’s efforts since assuming office to promote Vietnam–Pakistan cooperation, especially in culture, arts, and religion, contributing to enhanced mutual understanding.

The Prime Minister recalled outcomes from his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the 8th Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia. He emphasized that Vietnam and Pakistan have great cooperation potential that should be fully tapped to make bilateral relations more substantive and contribute to peace, stability, and cooperation between South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as the broader Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh Meets with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif | Nhat Bac

TRADE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES FROM SOUTH KOREAN CORPORATIONSC

Among 149 countries and territories, South Korea is the largest investor in Vietnam with 10,128 projects. As of early 2025, Korean businesses have invested more than USD 92 billion in Vietnam.

Mr. Lee Jong Kook, National Director of Green Asia Network and former General Director of Lotte Vietnam, was invited by the Institute Director to the working session. From the perspective of a foreign investor and builder of Lotte in Vietnam, as well as an advisor to Korean business groups investing in Vietnam, Mr. Lee Jong Kook and the Ambassador discussed experiences in building business networks in Vietnam.

The Ambassador expressed enthusiasm in cooperating with the Institute for Policy Management within the Green Asia Network (GAN) framework in Vietnam.

This is an important collaboration to promote green growth and sustainable development, affirming the Ambassador’s commitment to sustainability. GreenAsia Network focuses on green initiatives, environmental protection, and international cooperation to address current environmental and social challenges. Participation in this network and collaboration with Vietnamese localities on reforestation projects will open up opportunities for resource sharing, business connectivity, and green project implementation across Southeast Asia.

Over its 25 years of development, the network has reforested barren lands, developed agriculture, and improved livelihoods in countries such as Mongolia, Myanmar, and South Korea.

The Institute for Policy Management serves as the focal point and master coordinator of GAN in selected countries, starting with Vietnam. Ambassador Kohdayar Marri also proposed finding a coordinator in Pakistan to increase opportunities for green and sustainable development.

The Ambassador proposed that the Director provide strategic counsel to enhance the Embassy’s role as a key facilitator in supporting business activities, strengthening the exchange of vision, objectives, and market development orientations, as well as identifying bilateral trade promotion opportunities through active participation in joint programs and regularly scheduled business engagement meetings.

Mr Lee Jong Kọok, Director Country of Green Asia Network, The Ambassador of Pakistan to Vietnam Mr. Kohdayar Marri and Director Institute of Policy Administration Le Nguyen Thien Nga, Mrs Thuy Nga, Ambassadorial Assistant  | Linh Linh – Bao Thang

Mr. Ambassador Kohdayar Marri and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh | Nhat Bac 

Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Đức Phớc with Chief Researcher of the National Data Strategy, Le Nguyen Thien Nga

Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Đức Phớc

Emphasized the importance of disseminating information to the public and businesses, while also ensuring that state management agencies continuously innovate and create the best initiatives to provide the best management tools and facilitate business development. This approach is essential to ensure resources for investment and development.

For instance, in the matter of budget collection, one aspect involves reducing revenue through tax reductions, but another aspect is increasing revenue in areas or tax categories that have been underutilized or under-collected, such as e-commerce platforms, cross-border transactions, stock market transactions, transfer pricing, or real estate transactions. These are potential areas. To manage effectively, management tools are necessary. Connecting tax authorities with national population data managed by the police, using the national identification number as the unique tax identification number, ensures that individuals with multiple tax identifiers are consolidated into a single tax identification number, aligning with the electronic identification system. This approach balances budget revenues and expenditures and ensures better investment and development resources.

Strategic Data Researcher Lê Nguyễn Thiên Nga Recommends Areas of Focus for Pakistan in Agricultural InvestmentP

Economic integration has enabled Vietnam’s agricultural sector to successfully participate in the global value chain. Vietnam has become an important link in the global agricultural value chain, ranking among the top 15 largest agricultural exporters worldwide and second in Southeast Asia. Vietnam’s agricultural exports have continuously grown, contributing to improving the trade balance.

Vietnam has become a major agricultural exporter with 11 items maintaining export values exceeding $1 billion. Among them, seven items have reached over $3 billion in export value (wood and wood products approximately $16.1 billion, fruits and vegetables approximately $7.1 billion, rice approximately $5.7 billion, coffee approximately $5.4 billion, cashew nuts $4.3 billion, shrimp $3.8 billion, rubber approximately $3.2 billion). Notably, exports of fruits and vegetables, rice, coffee, cashew nuts, and pepper have all experienced double-digit growth (coffee increased by 56.9%, pepper by 53.3%, rubber by 24.6%, rice by 10.6%). Products such as basa fish, tuna, shrimp, coffee, and cashew nuts have established a strong position in the market, becoming familiar foods for consumers worldwide.

Consulting on the Development and Testing of Suitable Crop Varieties Between Pakistan and Vietnam

According to Ms. Lê Nguyễn Thiên Nga, to enhance the promotion of Pakistani products and culture in Vietnam and to establish strong connections between the Pakistani Embassy, Pakistani enterprises, and Vietnamese ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses, the Institute of Policy Management and the Embassy will jointly promote cooperation in researching and testing crop varieties. This includes exploring the cultivation of Pakistani rice varieties in Vietnam and developing other Pakistani crop varieties in Vietnam.

The Institute of Policy Management has a Research and Development Center for Agriculture as a liaison with Vietnamese ministries and localities for the Embassy and Pakistani enterprises wishing to develop in this field. Additionally, there is available land for the development of Pakistani rice in Vietnam.

Several other suggested crop varieties from the Pakistani Ambassador include:

  • Mangoes: Pakistan has famous mango varieties, such as Sindhri, known for their excellent taste and quality. Testing these mango varieties in Vietnam, especially in the southern regions, could diversify domestic mango products.

  • Dates: Dates are a special crop with high nutritional value. Testing date cultivation in tropical dry areas like the Central Highlands or areas with land reclamation potential could open up export opportunities for Vietnam.

  • Pakistani Rice: Pakistan is renowned for high-quality rice varieties like Basmati. Testing and developing Basmati rice varieties in the Mekong Delta provinces could yield premium rice products, meeting both domestic and international consumption demands.

Both sides identify linkages and serve as focal points for developing cooperation:

Research on adapting crop varieties: Pakistan has high-quality crop varieties such as mangoes, dates, and rice. However, transferring these varieties into Vietnam’s environment and climate requires conducting experimental projects to assess their growth potential and yield in different climatic regions of Vietnam.

Surveying land and climatic conditions: Each crop variety has specific requirements for soil and climate conditions. Local studies need to be conducted to determine suitable areas for cultivating Pakistani crops like mangoes, dates, and rice.

The Policy Governance Institute can act as a liaison with localities:

Linking with agricultural enterprises: Pakistani businesses can collaborate with Vietnamese enterprises to develop new crop varieties. Creating pilot planting models and then expanding them will enhance cooperation between the two countries.

Training and technology transfer: Experts from Pakistan can participate in training and transferring techniques to Vietnamese farmers, helping them familiarize themselves with the cultivation processes of new crop varieties, thereby improving productivity and product quality.

Developing a network of Policy Experts to promote and mobilize resources that can be received from the ASEAN Green Network project.

Policies supporting research and development of crop varieties: There is a need for policies that encourage research and development of new crop varieties, especially imported ones. These policies may include financial support for experimental research projects and creating mechanisms for international cooperation.

Programs supporting farmers: Financial support programs, agricultural materials, and training for farmers will help them easily adopt new crop varieties, thereby promoting the development of the agricultural sector.

Developing crop varieties between the two countries will contribute to promoting and enhancing the image, culture, and people of Vietnam – 

Creating a bridge between Vietnamese and Pakistani enterprises: Exchange events, seminars, and exhibitions will provide opportunities for businesses from both countries to connect and seek cooperation opportunities. Promoting Pakistani crop varieties at international agricultural conferences will also help increase the value and competitiveness of products from both countries.

Trade promotion programs: Trade promotion programs and product promotion, especially agricultural products from Pakistan in Vietnam and vice versa, will create opportunities to expand markets for these crop varieties.

Linking a global network of experts and participating in the Policy Circle to share resources and advocate for policies to develop Vietnam – Pakistan cooperation.

The Embassy will also establish a cross-exchange network of experts from both sides in the fields of science and technology, innovation, and expand into other areas. Experts will be invited from independent experts, reputable units, capable of converging social resources and organizing public-private coordination activities, proactively participating, and supporting resources in the development and multilateral trade promotion process.

Experts from partner agencies introduced by the Ambassador and the Embassy will be included in the Policy Circle Expert Network and participate in the Science – Entrepreneur – Politician ecosystem in Vietnam’s development strategy, along with promoting agencies to create a global expert database, establish a common data platform as a basis for consultation and sharing feedback to build important policies in Vietnam – Pakistan development cooperation.

Chief Researcher of the National Data Strategy, Le Nguyen Thien Nga

Strategic Data Researcher Lê Nguyễn Thiên Nga Recommends Areas of Focus for Pakistan in AThe Vietnam Institute of Policy and Development Strategy recommends:

Based on the synchronized connection of national databases on population, including agriculture and land zoning, enterprises, creating a streamlined administrative apparatus, effectively reforming administrative procedures, developing the digital economy to create new growth drivers; promoting the application of digital technology in all industries and fields, creating new business models.

To promote enterprise investment in agriculture, prioritizing attracting high-tech and sustainable investments, we need to recognize the important role of enterprises investing in agriculture through the goal: Vietnam aims to achieve 25 billion USD in registered FDI in agriculture by 2030. This includes focusing on investment projects with high scientific and technological content, environmentally friendly; products in Vietnam’s strong agricultural sectors…

Vietnam is synchronizing solutions to expand the scale and number of FDI projects invested in agriculture, shifting the investment structure into high-tech agriculture. Enterprises are the subjects of transforming advanced production models, applying scientific and technological advances, to increase productivity, product quality, and competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products.

Vietnam is promoting the Entrepreneurial Economy strategy, supporting enterprises to create jobs, improve living standards, and increase income for farmers and workers, contributing significantly to social stability.

The Pakistani Embassy also needs to have basic documents providing information to entrepreneurs about Vietnam’s support for the FDI sector and other information such as taxes, land rental fees, investment support, human resource training, domestic and regional transportation, or opportunities to access the ASEAN market through Vietnam’s gateway.

Some current information about Vietnam:

  • Currently, the number of workers employed in enterprises in the agricultural sector accounts for the highest proportion, about 35% of the total number of workers in all enterprises.

  • The average income of workers in this sector has also improved significantly over time, currently averaging about over 8 million VND/person/month.

Similar to Vietnam’s issues, the Pakistani Embassy provides specific information and digital transformation, green transformation, investors, and Pakistani entrepreneurs interested in Vietnam also need to understand specific information about policies and markets, especially in the current context of the new era and Vietnam’s integration.

Chief Researcher of the National Data Strategy, Le Nguyen Thien Nga

The National Strategy is implemented nationwide, including: policy studies within the overall National Data Strategy with Party and State leaders, Government leaders, Ministry and local leaders, to maximize the effectiveness of government propaganda at all levels, sectors, and localities in implementing the general policy.

LE NGUYEN THIEN NGA

Director of the Institute of Policy Governance and Development Strategy, Head of the National Data Strategy, Chair of the National Project “From Policy to Life” (Prime Minister’s Decision/TTCS)

Chairman of the Research Council on Young Vietnamese Entrepreneurs’ Policy