To access the West Asian market more effectively, Vietnamese businesses need to proactively research and classify and develop specific strategies for each type of exported goods appropriate to the needs of each country in this region.

December 12, 2023, in City. Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Industry and Trade organized an international conference “Promoting the export of potential products to the West Asia region” to support industry associations and Vietnamese businesses in accessing the market and understanding the needs of Vietnamese businesses. demand for imported goods and seize trade opportunities with partners in West Asia.

The conference attracted the attention and participation in person and online of nearly 200 delegates from state management agencies, diplomatic/trade representative agencies, organizations, industry associations, and businesses. of Vietnam and West Asian countries.

Speaking at the opening of the Workshop, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang said that with a scale of 15 countries and territories, a population of about 500 million people and increasing income, the West Asia region is emerging as potential export market for Vietnamese businesses.

Deputy Minister of Information, Vietnam is currently the third largest economy in ASEAN with a GDP of nearly 410 billion USD. Regarding foreign trade, Vietnam is one of the top 20 economies in international trade with import-export turnover reaching nearly 735 billion USD and is a full member of 16 FTAs ​​with most major economic partners. In the world.

Regarding foreign investment attraction, Vietnam was included in the list of the world’s top 20 countries attracting FDI by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, with the presence of nearly 35,900 projects, total registered capital. Signed over 435 billion USD from 141 countries and territories.

In the period 2018-2022, the relationship between Vietnam and West Asian countries has recorded very good developments, creating momentum for economic and trade cooperation to develop. If in 2018, the total two-way trade turnover only reached nearly 14 billion USD, then by 2022 this number will reach nearly 19.5 billion USD, of which Vietnam’s average exports will reach about 8 billion USD. billion USD/year. It is forecast that in 2023, the total import and export value may reach 20 billion USD.

Based on the achievements, the Deputy Minister emphasized that Vietnam and West Asian countries have a lot of potential to continue expanding the scale of bilateral trade, because of the basic two-way import-export structure. do not compete directly but complement each other. This is a favorable condition for the business communities of the two countries to build, strengthen and diversify commodity supply chains, especially for industries and products in which one Party has strengths and the other Party has needs. and vice versa.

The Deputy Minister affirmed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Embassies and relevant agencies of Vietnam and other countries are ready to support Vietnamese businesses in implementing future cooperation activities.

Information about the potential to promote economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and West Asia, Mr. Do Quoc Hung, Deputy Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said: Although trade cooperation The relationship between Vietnam and West Asian countries in recent years has improved, however, Mr. Do Quoc Hung also frankly acknowledged that two-way trade turnover is still not commensurate with the true potential of each side.

Overview of the conference

In order for Vietnam’s export goods to reach the West Asian market more effectively, Mr. Do Quoc Hung noted that Vietnamese businesses need to proactively research and classify and develop specific strategies for export products. Each type of goods is suitable to the needs of each group of countries in the West Asia region.

Also according to Mr. Do Quoc Hung, to grasp the opportunity to develop exports to West Asia, state management agencies, associations, industries and Vietnamese businesses need to work together and coordinate in activities. : (i) Enhance the exchange of trade delegations and business delegations; (ii) Research and negotiate and sign cooperation documents in mutual recognition of Halal certificates; (iii) Promote cooperation in logistics, banking, finance, digital transformation…; (iv) Encourage businesses to develop their brands and register for brand and trademark protection in the local area; (v) Support businesses to bring goods into large local supermarket chains such as Lulu, Choithrams, Al Maya, Spinneys… with Vietnam’s strong export products.