EU-Vietnam Trade Forum highlights tasks and opportunities

Eu-Vietnam Trade Forum attracted 100 enterprises from Vietnam and Europe

The forum was organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam and embassies of EU member states to Vietnam.

The event attracted numerous enterprises from Europe and Vietnam to meet and discuss co-operation opportunities with each other. The platform was highlighted as a rare opportunity for European enterprises to gain a deeper understanding about Vietnamese agricultural products.

Besides, experts from the UK, France, and Italy shared their experiences about developing the smart agricultural industry – which is a key strategy in Europe.

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung said, “The forum is a place for experts to share difficulties in developing the bilateral trade sector, while simultaneously issuing solutions to help the enterprises of the two parties to create suitable business plans.”

According to Miriam Garcia Ferrer, head of the Trade and Economic Section of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam, in order to export agricultural products to Europe, Vietnamese companies have to comply with the criteria to receive preferential tariffs and origin of goods requirements, while simultaneously ensuring compliance with EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements. Besides, they have to fulfil technical requirements in terms of packaging and labelling.

Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) show that the EU is one of the largest markets for agricultural products, such as coffee, pepper, fruit, nuts, and spices. For example, Vietnam is one of the two largest suppliers of pepper to the EU with an average export volume of 40,000 tonnes a year, accounting for 23 per cent of Vietnam's pepper exports and meeting 53 per cent of the EU’s demand.

However, Vietnamese agricultural products have to compete in price, quality, and delivery time with fruit from countries located closer to the EU, such as Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Panama, and from regional rivals such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

In order to compete with other players and take advantage of the Eu-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), experts said that special attention should be paid to product quality. In order to get high export value, the focus should be put on the processing stage.

Experts also expect that once the EVFTA comes into effect, it will open up opportunities for Vietnamese agricultural products to approach the European market with an export tax of 0-5 per cent in the first 7-10 years.