More support forthcoming thanks to Polish interest

How have trade and investment ties between Vietnam and Poland grown since the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)?

Piotr Harasimowicz, chief representative officer at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency

The Vietnamese economy offers many opportunities for cooperation that Poland, with its economic potential, could effectively use. The EVFTA ultimately eliminated over 99 per cent of duties on commercial goods of both parties when it entered into force in August 2020.

The EVFTA can help the growth of GDP and exports in Vietnam respectively by 2.4 per cent and 12 per cent by 2030. Due to the deal, exports from Poland to Vietnam in the period from January to September 2023 amounted to $413 million, increasing by 18 per cent compared to the same time period in 2022.

Exports from Vietnam to Poland in the same period amounted to over $3.6 billion, increasing by 0.3 per cent compared to the same time period in 2022.

Respectively, the number of Polish projects in Vietnam increased from 24 in 2022 to 36 in 2023, according to the data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

What are some interesting industries for Vietnamese and Polish companies to strengthen cooperation?

Trade between Poland and Vietnam mainly concerns on food products. The value of agri-food products exported to the Vietnamese market amounted to over $165 million in 2022, including the value of exports of live animals and animal products to almost $107.7 million.

It was noted that, compared to the EU, Poland is one of the countries that has increased its trade with Vietnam the most. The largest export goods from Poland to Vietnam are still poultry and pork, milk and dairy products, medicines and pharma products, and machinery and equipment. The cosmetics and IT sectors also belong to the group of products and services that the Poland government is focusing on promoting on the Vietnam market.

Polish experts assessed that Vietnamese agricultural products are very potential for export to the Poland market. Currently, many Vietnamese enterprises have proved that the product quality meets the requirements of the EU, in line with the taste of Polish consumers.

The catalogue of the most frequently imported products from Vietnam to Poland includes a rice, corn, garlic, eggs, fish products, coffee, chemical products, textile products, footwear products, and products containing ethanol.

Adamed Group has begun the largest ever Polish project in Vietnam. Could you share the interest of Polish companies in increasing their investments in Vietnam in 2024?

Established in 2021, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in Vietnam also supported Rawlplug, a Polish company manufacturing screws, plugs, bolts, construction equipment, chemical bonds, anchors, and other construction materials, to establish relationships and open a manufacturing factory in the southern province of Binh Duong.

During the last three years, we also supported Torimex in continuing its investment plans in Vietnam in the rubber and pepper business.

In 2023, the agency supported another Polish company, L-Bit 3 Krzysztof Radochoński, which opened its representative office in Vietnam by recruiting new employees in cooperation with Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

At the beginning of 2024, Polish IT company Elproma started a project with Cotel Co., Ltd., which connected them with the Vietnamese time and frequency laboratory, where Elproma presented their products and solutions that they want to introduce to the Vietnam Metrology Institute.

Among other projects, the ones that need attention are those of Eleader, which plans to expand to Vietnam with its mobile visit mobile application product supporting field workers in their daily duties; and investment company Jonitaco Holdings, which started the process of investing in Vietnam’s IT, tourism, and real estate sectors by meeting with authorities of Tuy Hoa city in the south-central province of Phu Yen as well as the local Department of Planning and Investment.

For upcoming plans in 2024, Polish construction company Lars Laj is planning a plant to produce playground equipment and is implementing equipment projects for resorts in Vietnam. Janmar Sport company, a Polish producer of knitwear for sports clothes, also has investment plans and has asked our office for help in reaching Vietnamese companies in order to help open a textile factory in Vietnam.