South African businesses seek partnership in Vietnam

Valentine Naidoo, a representative of South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, speaks at the Vietnam-South Africa business conference in Ho Chi Minh City on October 21 (Photo: VNA)

Valentine Naidoo from South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry said Vietnam has been considered a major and important trade partner of South Africa.

South African firms see Vietnam as a promising market with trade and investment cooperation potential, she said, adding that Vietnam is also a gateway for South African goods to access Southeast Asian countries.

Jacobus Rreinier Grove from Rukou Beverages said that both South Africa and Vietnam are strong in agricultural production, but with different product structure, thus both sides can collaborate to promote trade and giving more choices to consumers.

Regarding the area of processing, South Africa is strong in producing products from natural and safe materials which is suitable to the healthy consumption trend, he held

Meanwhile, Deshan Naidoo, Director of Factocode Microfinish, a company specialising in producing automobile spare parts, said that Vietnam has a growing production industry with rising demand for support industry products.

Therefore, many South African firms hope to partner with Vietnamese businesses in support industry to serve production and distribution. With their experience, South African businesses can support their Vietnamese peers in technology transfer and personnel training, he stated.

According to Bui Thi Thanh An, Vice Director of the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, South Africa is now the biggest trade partner of Vietnam in Africa with two-way trade reaching over 1.1 billion USD in 2018, including Vietnam’s export revenue of over 724 million USD.

Major export products of Vietnam in South Africa include telephone, agricultural products, coffee, and spices. Meanwhile, Vietnam mostly imported wood and steel products from South Africa with value of about 368 million USD.

An said that there is room for both countries to increase two-way trade revenue and business and investment collaboration activities to match their potential.

She said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa have implemented a number of activities for businesses of both sides to meet directly and seek stronger partnership, thus expanding the market for each other’s products.