European farm produce seek ways to reach Vietnamese consumers

The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)  will pave the way for their agricultural products, including fruits, meat and dairy, to enter the Vietnamese market. (Photo: zing)

Hanoi (VNA) – The European agriculture producers are expecting the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to take effect soon as it will pave the way for their agricultural products, including fruits, meat and dairy, to enter the Southeast Asian market with a population of 93 million.

A delegation of 65 enterprises from Flanders, Belgium will visit Vietnam from May 13-18 to seek business cooperation opportunities with their partners.

Philippe Appeltans, a representative from VBT fruit and vegetable export firm, noted that his company wants to bring the best quality products to Vietnamese market. 

Belgium purchases various kinds of fruits from Vietnam and also hopes to bolster farm produce exports to the market, he said, highlighting that the two countries see great potential for promoting trade and investment cooperation as their goods are mutually complementary.

Meanwhile, Exportslachthuis De Coster expressed its hope to shake hands with Vietnamese partners to sell slaughtered products which are favoured by Vietnamese consumers.

Vietnam is a potential market for livestock and poultry meat and this offers great opportunities for Belgian suppliers, representative from the company said.

Earlier, during a tour to study Vietnamese food and farm produce market in the end of 2017, 30 French enterprises said that they made meticulous preparations to bring their products to Vietnam to take advantage of the EVFTA.

According to a trade counsellor of the French Embassy in Vietnam, necessary procedures are being completed to ship the first batch of potatoes to Vietnam in 2018.

The Vietnamese market will be a fertile land for imported farm produce thanks to the increasing number of middle-class consumers who prefer high-quality products.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam splashed out 38.9 million USD on purchasing 24,500 tonnes of various kinds of meat in March, up 63.7 percent in value and 94.1 percent in volume from the previous month.

Also, the country spent 1.55 billion USD on fruit and vegetable imports, up 62.7 percent from the same time last year. Most of the imports were longan, mangosteen, durian, tamarind, pear and apple. 

As foreign farm produce will put pressure on domestic businesses, local producers should work to make substantial changes so that their products will become competitive in both quality and price.