Vietnam’s exports to China’s Hong Kong saw a significant yearly increase of some 26.7 percent to top USD5.2 billion in 2014, Vietnamese Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau Hoang Chi Trung said.

Although relations between Vietnam and Hong Kong were affected by China’s illegal positioning of an oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf last year, their ties have been improved thanks to efforts by both sides, he told Vietnam News Agency correspondents.

The Chinese special administrative region invested more than USD3 billion in 99 new projects in Vietnam in 2014, ranking second among 60 countries and territories directly investing here.

Meanwhile, the number of Hong Kong tourists to Vietnam rebounded towards the end of the year after a fall triggered by the oil rig incident, the diplomat noted.

Vietnamese Consul General Hoang Chi Trung grants an interview to a VNA correspondent (Photo: VNA)

According to him, Hong Kong will remain a leading partner of Vietnam in 2015 as well as a gateway for the country’s goods to enter major markets like Europe and the US.

Good will and efforts from both sides are needed to realise their relations’ potential, he added.

He further said Vietnam will actively take part in trade meetings, workshops, and fairs and organise tourism and trade promotional activities in Hong Kong and Macau, another special administrative region of China.

The diplomat also reported that shipments of Vietnamese goods to Macau last year rose by 17.4 percent from 2013 and more Vietnamese guest workers came to work here.

The Consulate General plans to arrange for about 100 Hong Kong and Macau entrepreneurs to visit Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city in April in order to learn about local investment climate and seek business opportunities, he added./.

VNF/VNA