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Exporters expect minor impact from Japan’s disaster
Exporters have foreseen difficulties or even decreases in exports to Japan as the impact of the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami unfolds, but said the impact might be minor.
Seafood exporters, for example, said Japanese provinces which were affected by the twin disaster are not major destinations of Vietnam’s seafood. Furthermore, seafood is an essential daily product, so demand is expected to remain strong.
The President of the Vietnam Seafood Corporation Management Board, Vo Phuoc Hoa, said his company was working on export contracts to Japan as usual.
However, Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), said as Japan is the second largest market of Vietnamese seafood after the European Union, VASEP is closely following developments.
Exports of wood and wooden furniture have also signalled minimal impact, since these products mostly go to major cities.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that Japan is Vietnam’s fourth largest trade partner and the third largest importer.
In the first two months of 2011, exports to Japan kept growing considerably, especially apparel, seafood, footwear, wood and wooden furniture.
The garment and textile industry, for example, earned 200 million USD, enjoying a year-on-year increase of 39.6 percent.
Export revenues of seafood, the second-largest hard currency earner, increased almost 21 percent year on year to 106 million USD in the same period. Meanwhile, footwear and wood and wooden products achieved respective growth rates of 78.6 and 20.6 percent.
In general, exports to Japan brought over 1.2 billion USD for Vietnam, accounting for 10 percent of the country’s gross export revenue.
tuoitrenews, VNA
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