By Ndubuisi Francis
A former Nigerian envoy to Vietnam, Alhaji Sani Bako has applauded the newly registered Nigeria-Vietnam Economic, Trade and Cultural Association (NVETCA), describing its emergence as a boost to economic and social ties between both countries.
Bako, who is the prime facilitator of NVETCA , disclosed in Abuja at the weekend that he was delighted that after rigorous scrutiny by the Federal Ministry of Justice and various organs of government as well as the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, (NACCIMA), the association was eventually registered.
Sani who was Nigeria’s pioneer envoy to the East Asian country, noted that the association intends to promote bilateral economic, trade and cultural relations between the two countires.
Bako had the privilege to open the Nigerian Embassy in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital in 2007 as the Charge d’ Affairs before it was fully upgraded to a full mission afterwards.
He also spearheaded the first visit of the then Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to Vietnam during which Nigeria procured some gunboats from that country for the Nigerian Navy.
During his term as the head of mission in Vietnam, the former diplomat took cognisance of the advancement of Vietnam in agriculture, the pharmaceutical sector and technology and did a lot to promote collaboration between the two counties.
His efforts in this regard led to the coming of Vietnamese farmers to begin rice farming in some states in Nigeria.
There have also been quite a number of collaborations between the citizens of both countries in pharmaceuticals and several other sectors, including exports and imports which were made possible through his encouragement of person-to-person relationships.
The same initiatives may have propelled Bako to pursue the formation of the current initiative–NVETCA.
Nigeria currently enjoys a robust trade relations with the Asian country.
Vietnam imports from Nigeria stood at $365.96 million in 2020, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.
Value of exports to Vietnam n 2019 amounted to $179.44 million in 2019.
Among Nigeria’s export items to the country are edible fruits, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons, mineral fuels, oils, and distillation products.
Others are oil seed, vegetable fats and oils, oleagic fruits, grains, seeds, wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal, molluscs, aquatics, mate and spices.
Vietnam has a population of over 97 million people and is a Lower-middle income economy with gross domestic product (GDP) estimated at $1.14 trillion in 2021.
Its economy is based on large state-owned industries such as textiles, food, furniture, plastics and paper as well as tourism and telecommunications.
Agriculture accounted for 14 per cent of GDP and employed 36 per cent of the total workforce in 2020, according to the World Bank.
