Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat (Photo: VGP)

During a working visit to Vietnam, Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat assessed that, over the past three decades, the relationship between the two countries has developed very well. The Vietnam - Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA), signed in Tel Aviv on July 25, is an example of this.

In particular, there will be a direct flight between Vietnam and Israel, which is a great breakthrough, an important highlight to help promote tourism, economy, trade, investment, science and technology.

Mr. Nir Barkat said that Vietnam can show Israeli businesses that Vietnam acts as a gateway for these businesses to access not only the market of 100 million people in Vietnam but also the market of 700 million people of ASEAN.

He also proposed the establishment of a cooperation fund to help support and connect capital for businesses to invest and do business in Vietnam, to ensure the first Israeli enterprises entering the Vietnamese market will be successful.

"Because 10,000 Israeli startups will question whether to invest in business in Vietnam, and then, the success of the first companies will be the best answer, creating motivation for the other companies to invest in Vietnam," said Mr. Nir Barkat.

In the context that Vietnam is one of the countries heavily affected by climate change, he said that one of the companies operating very actively in Vietnam with a lot of experience in the field of climate change is Netafim (Israel). Netafim is very suitable for implementing projects to respond to climate change such as providing solutions to manage water resources, create water, save water, create food sources in the desert, and energy sources.

Israel has embarked on the development of desert technology (Desert Tech) and this is one of the key industry groups where Israel is focusing its resources, since then, many effective initiatives, ideas and solutions have been launched for water management, energy management, agricultural management, and desert food.

"And that will be one of the key areas where Israeli businesses are looking for investment cooperation in Vietnam," said Mr. Nir Barkat.

Israel is currently the third largest export market and the fifth largest trading partner of Vietnam, and is considered a potential market for Vietnamese goods in West Asia./.