Pakistan and Vietnam have agreed to take bilateral trade up to $1 billion and to finalize the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), during the recent visit of the Federal Minister for Commerce for emphasizing the strengthening of bilateral economic and trade ties.
During the four days visit of the Federal Minister Commerce Minister in last week, emphases was placed on establishing a bilateral banking channel, to finalize PTA, trade diversification in key sectors including textiles and fisheries, halal certification, civil aviation, healthcare, information technology, pharmaceuticals, food processing, agriculture, leather and surgical instruments.
It is also decided that the sixth session of the Joint Trade Commission (JTC) will be held in Pakistan at a mutually convenient time in the coming months to further negotiate the different issued of bilateral trade and PTA finalization.
The Federal Minister for Commerce arrived in Vietnam for a four-day official visit from July 9-12, 2025, to mark the first high-level Pakistani ministerial visit in 15 years.
The Minister of Commerce had engaged in strategic meetings with top Vietnamese officials, including the Minister of Industry and Trade, and engages with the Chamber of Commerce and key business leaders.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sahrif had assigned a special task the Minister for Commerce to explore the mechanism for enhancing bilateral trade between Pakistan and Vietnam, besides following its model to promote and develop value addition to increase exports from the country.
Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan also had a meeting with Dr Hoang Trung, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and discussed the different avenues for enhancing financial cooperation between Pakistan and Vietnam.
During the meeting, both sides recalled the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2004 between the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and SBV, and welcomed the proposal to renew and modernize the agreement, given evolving financial landscapes and growing bilateral trade.
The Minister appreciated Vietnam’s advancements in digital banking and expressed interest in leveraging Vietnam’s experience to support Pakistan’s financial innovation efforts.
Both sides reaffirmed the role of central banks in enabling an environment conducive to economic and commercial engagement and concluded with a commitment to maintain institutional linkages through the SBP’s International Relations Department for structured follow-up. In meeting discussions also focused on reducing trade barriers and working towards a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to facilitate smoother trade flows.
Meanwhile, talking to the media, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan said the government’s commitment to strengthening bilateral economic ties with Vietnam, with a focus on boosting local trade and increasing exports from the country.
The minister said that the bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Vietnam was recorded at $ 800 million, which was expected to reach $1 trillion soon, adding that the expansion of trade offers an opportunity to Pakistan to further enhance its exports to Vietnam. Pakistan exports goods worth $2.38 billion to China in FY25The minister said that a joint technical committee, which was formed many years ago, was also revived to enhance bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.