FNF Lighthouse project connects four Vietnamese exporters with Europe

Enterprises are supported at the Lighthouse project

"The Lighthouse project will strive to bring over 10 exporters of agricultural products from Vietnam to Poland within a year if nothing changes," said Piotr Harasimowicz, chief representative at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency.

Some Polish distributors are also working with Vietnamese enterprises to bring agricultural products to Poland through this programme. However, according to Piotr, Vietnamese enterprises need more trade promotion activities so that the Polish market can learn more about Vietnamese products.

Poland also has a number of requirements for product packaging, marketing specifications, and regulations on food hygiene that Vietnamese enterprises need to learn about. In Poland, Vietnamese products also have to compete with others from Asia such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, all of which have free trade agreements with the country.

At the same time, Polish exporters also have to thoroughly understand the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and export procedures before exporting to the Vietnamese market. The products they wish to introduce to the market are agricultural products, smart city solutions, and IT services.

The Lighthouse project is one of FNF's activities to help Vietnamese enterprises navigate the European market through the EVFTA.

The representative of Tan Vuong Food Co., Ltd. (right) talking with European partners in the Lighthouse programme

At the event, FNF country director Andreas Stoffers said that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have not had many opportunities to access the EVFTA and that they need support to take advantage of this opportunity.

Chosen enterprises have been exporting goods but have yet to enter Europe. Many of these enterprises do not fully understand the regulations and the procedures/documentation involved. At the same time, they do not understand the European market yet.

The Lighthouse project has cooperated with the European Business Association in Vietnam to train enterprises in marketing, management, and finding reputable partners in Europe.

Through the programme, FNF cooperated with the German Business Association, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, the Italian IMI Corporate and Investment Bank, as well as the European Business Association to research the weaknesses of SMEs to help them improve. These organisations are also introducing four enterprises in their country programme.

The enterprises in the programme said that they have been provided with knowledge about the market, improving the quality of products and services to meet European standards.

In addition, they also received many new business opportunities and knowledge about how to analyse and understand the market and their role in the supply and value chain.