Vietnam - Nepal economic cooperation: Opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Amid fluctuations in the regional and global economy, Vietnam has promoted the diversification of its external economic relations and sought potential markets in South Asia, where Nepal is regarded as a partner with stable political foundations and complementary economic structures. The study assesses the Vietnam - Nepal economic cooperation using a SWOT analytical framework and secondary data. The findings indicate that bilateral economic relations benefit from a favorable political foundation and have established several complementary trade flows. Nevertheless, limitations remain, including the small scale of transactions, trade imbalance and high logistics costs. On this basis, the study proposes promoting cooperation through product clusters with comparative advantages, strengthening distribution channels, enhancing non-price competitiveness, and linking goods trade with services cooperation, thereby fostering more substantive and sustainable bilateral economic relations.