Speakers at the opening session of a two-day seminar that began in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Thursday expressed their hope that the event would open new avenues for commercial trade between Vietnam and Bangladesh, a local media has reported. The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC-Bangladesh) organised the seminar to brainstorm on theoretical understandings of logistics and international trade, according to the Voice Of Vietnam. Some 200 delegates from different countries are taking part in the seminar, it said. Speaking at the event, the VCCI Vice President of Hoang Quang Phong drew attention to the institutional advantages possessed by Vietnam, namely, its free port status, low and simple tax regimes, quick and transparent custom trading procedures, which benefit its international trade, said the report. The first day of the conference also featured speeches and insights on port-centric logistics, sustainable transport, technology and enterprise, challenges facing Vietnam ports, reverse trends in global manufacturing and others, it mentioned. Sessions on transport and trade logistics and transport and trade finance and economics were also held, complete with technical discussions on guaranteeing payment for goods and services using letter of credit and electronic payments, according to the report. Vincent O’ Brien from the ICC got into the nuts and bolts of international trade finance including detailed in-depth discussion of terminology that is widely used in international commercial transactions and procurement processes, it added. Mr O’Brien also led an interesting discussion with the delegates addressing the most common ways of resolving international disputes related to payment or quality of product disputes in commercial transactions and practical measures to avoid them, it said. On the occasion, a temporary memorandum of understanding between the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) and Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC)was signed to explore entering into a formal binding written contract to utilise arbitration as a dispute resolution procedure for the mutual benefit of the two nations, said the report.
