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Middle East, Africa markets open to Vietnamese goods
Although a number of Vietnam’s traditional markets have shrunk due to the global financial downturn, Africa and the Middle East are offering attractive opportunities for Vietnamese goods.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said that the two regions have diverse needs while their requirement for produtc quality is not strict.
According to officials at the MoIT’s African-Southwest Asian Department, consumers in the Middle East enjoy higher incomes and there is a big demand. Also, countries from the region are now tending to invest and trade more in Asia, including Vietnam.
Vietnam’s exports to the Middle East are rising, reaching around US$1.27 billion in 2008, up 80 percent year on year.
Both sides are building links to promote trade in an effort to raise two-way trade to US$ 3.1 billion in 2010 and US$9.6 billion in 2015.
In Africa, Vietnam’s goods benefit from many preferential policies. Vietnam’s exports to the region made up US$1.33 billion of two-way trade worth more than US$2 billion in 2008.
The nation’s export earnings from the region recorded a year-on-year rise of 49 percent despite a sharp decrease in the total export turnover in the first seven months of the year.
Africa imports rice and food from Vietnam and exports wood, cotton, raw cashew nuts, metals and gold to Vietnam.
Despite such advantages, Vietnam’s export earnings from Africa and the Middle-East remains modest due to the unstable security and political situation in many countries in both regions, said the deputy head of the department Nguyen Cong Hien.
The lack of information has resulted in many Vietnamese businesses having a poor understanding of the two markets.
That’s why businesses are hoping the ministry will open more commercial offices in the Middle East and Africa, provide updated market information and assist entrepreneurs in exploring the market and promoting trade activities.
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