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Thai-made goods flocking into Vietnam
A lot of products sourced from Thailand are flocking into Vietnam. The products, according to experts, cannot be exported to Europe or the US as a result of the global economic recession, and are seeking the way to neighbouring countries, including Vietnam.
Thailand-made better than China-made
Hong Nhung, who works for a foreign company, related that she and some of her friends have shifted to use Thailand-made detergent as the products have tender fragrances while the prices are ‘soft.’
Nhung also said that shampoo and soap made in Thailand prove to have better quality than the products of the same brand names made in Vietnam, like Camay soap, Pantene shampoo, and Olay cosmetics.
Quynh Trang, Public Relations Director of Big C Supermart, said that there has been a growing tendency of using Thai-made products since the 2009 Tet. Having reservations about the quality of Chinese-made products, the supermart itself does not reserve much room on the shelves for China’s products.
US $200 million worth of imports from Thailand
According to the HCM City Customs Agency, the value of import products from Thailand in the first two months of 2009 reached US $200 million.
The noteworthy thing is that while the imports have been on the decrease in general, the imports of Thai-made products have not decreased. The main import items include fabrics, home appliances, machines and equipment, electronic accessories, consumer products, and food.
Businessmen said that most of consumer products and foodstuffs have been going by land, while high value goods have been going by sea.
More and more shops specializing in selling Thai-made products have been opened. Thu Ba, the owner of a stall in An Dong market in district 5, HCM City, said that nearly 90% of the glass-made products on display at the stall are sourced from Thailand.
Ba said that Thailand’s products are always 20% more expensive than China’s, but they clearly have better quality.
An Dong market has been well known as the wholesale market of Chinese-sourced products. However, a lot of petty merchants here have shifted to sell Thai-made products.
Ngoc Anh, the owner of a footwear and handbag stall at the market, also said that she specializes in selling Thai-made products to serve teenage customers. The handbags displayed here have the sale price at VND 190,000, which are not really cheap, are still selling well.
As easy as trading Thai-made products
Dealers said that Thai-made products can penetrate Vietnam under many channels, including the official import channel and the unofficial imports carried across borders by travelers.
“It is not costly to travel to Thailand, while it is not difficult to find supply sources. Therefore, it is easy to trade Thai products and make profit with trading deals,” said N.T.K., the owner of a series of shops specializing in Thai-made goods.
Thai goods in Vietnam have been distributed well. Nguyen Dinh Nam, Director of NN, specializing in imported food, related that Thai Wall’s ice cream has been seen everywhere, even dominating over Vietnamese Kinh Do’s Merino ice cream in some places.
According to MOL, a shipping firm, the imports from Thailand to Vietnam have increased drastically, from 200 containers (20 tons/container) in January 2009, to 400 containers in February 2009, mostly consumer products, fruits, and garments.
However, state management agencies have warned about the low quality of illegal imports from Thailand. According to the HCM City Market Control Sub-department, Thai products previously went illegally to Vietnam though the borders in the central region and southwestern provinces. It has also warned that in the economic recession, more inventory products will go from China and Thailand to Vietnam under illegal imports, especially cosmetics, confectionaries, tobacco, and electronics.
VietNamNet, TT
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