About 30 food and beverage enterprises from the European Union (EU) on February 28 began a trip to Vietnam to explore business opportunities and look for domestic partners with an aim to tap into Vietnam’s market.
According to the EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN), these enterprises come from different EU countries including Poland, Italia, Estonia, Greek, Spain, Portugal, France, Iceland, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Holland and Lithuania. Their products are diverse, ranging from milk, meat, beer, and canned food to confectionery, sausages, olive oil, mineral water and soft drinks.
Most of the EU enterprises joining this trade promotion program from February 28 to March 3 in HCMC and Hanoi are first-timers to Vietnam. They will attend several conferences to meet with potential partners to get to know more about Vietnam’s market.
At a conference on Vietnam’s food and beverage market on February 28, these enterprises are given essential information like market trends, Vietnamese consumers’ behaviors, challenges and opportunities in the coming five years as well as cultural and legal aspects in Vietnam.
They also make field trips to large retail stores and join more than 600 B2B meetings with local enterprises in HCMC and Hanoi.
To prepare for the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) expected to take effect from 2018, EU enterprises look to expand their operations in Vietnam, including in the food and beverage sector. EVFTA is expected to help EU enterprises easily approach Vietnam’s potential market.
In November 2016, a group of more than 40 EU food and beverage enterprises came to Vietnam, showing keen interest in the food and beverage sector.
As many local consumers are increasingly concerned about food safety issues, foreign traders see this fact as a good chance to boost their sales in Vietnam. However, EU products sold in Vietnam are fairly expensive due to high transport costs and import tariffs.
When the EVFTA concluded in 2015 becomes effective in 2018, Vietnam will eliminate most tariffs for goods imports from the EU. As a result, EU products will have more competitive prices.
Foreign enterprises are currently holding a 50% market share in Vietnam’s food and beverage sector and EU suppliers want to increase their market share via domestic retail system.
In 2015, two-way trade between Vietnam and EU reached EUR38.4 ,billion including EUR29.9 billion worth of goods exported to the EU and 8.4 billion worth imported into Vietnam.
Lithuania wants to import vegetables and fruits from Vietnam
Lithuanian enterprises expect to import fruits and vegetables from Vietnam to meet the demand in their country, said Mindaugas Kuklierius, agricultural attaché of Lithuania in China, South Korea, Vietnam and Mongolia.
Speaking at a conference on cooperation opportunities for Vietnam enterprises held in HCMC on Monday, the attaché said the cooperation would be beneficial for both countries. Lithuania has high demand for fresh fruits and vegetables and a developed processing industry with five big manufacturers while Vietnam is strong in growing fruits and vegetables, he added.
Lithuania also shows interest in catfish imports from Vietnam.
Besides, Kuklierius Mindaugas said Lithuania wants to export various farm produce to Vietnam including butter, cheese, beef, chicken, pork, fish, sugar and honey.
Lithuania is located in Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and between Latvia and Russia.
Source: english.thesaigontimes.vn
Key words: European, F&B, enterprises, sound out, opportunities, in Vietnam
