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| Businesses share and learn about products at the conference |
For many years, Thailand has maintained its position as Vietnam’s largest partner in ASEAN with a total bilateral trade turnover of approximately US$20 billion in 2023. Currently, the two countries are striving to achieve the goal of US$25 billion in bilateral trade by 2025. Additionally, Thailand is also the 9th largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 735 projects totaling US$14 billion.
Although being a leading exporter of agricultural products, Thailand still has a large demand for imports of items such as seafood, fruits and vegetables, cashews, coffee, pepper, and various fresh fruits from Vietnam. This presents a significant opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to expand their exports to this market.
With a huge export potential to Thailand, Vietnamese enterprises are actively promoting market expansion in this country.
Ho Thi Quyen, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC), stated that to increase exports to Thailand, Vietnamese enterprises need to improve product quality, set reasonable prices, and improve designs and packaging. Moreover, Thai consumers are increasingly shifting towards supporting environmentally friendly products.
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| Business representatives shared their opinions at the conference |
To meet this demand, Vietnamese manufacturers and retailers need to invest in transforming production and business models towards green and sustainable development; investing in modern, high-tech production lines that use fewer resources and energy, minimize waste, and emissions.
Paul Le, Vice Chairman of Central Retail Corporation in Vietnam – the leading distributor and retailer in Thailand, believed that Vietnam had many high-quality agricultural products that could be strongly exported through distribution systems. However, to take advantage of this opportunity, Vietnamese businesses need to understand the needs and preferences of consumers in different markets. Additionally, businesses also need to invest in packaging, design, and branding to assert the presence of Vietnamese goods in the international market.
To support businesses exporting to the Thailand market, the representatives of Central Retail Corporation provided advice on packaging, standards for product designs, as well as technical standards for placing products in Central Retail Vietnam’s GO! supermarkets and meeting the export requirements to the Thailand market.
According to the representatives of Central Retail Vietnam, currently, 95% of products in Central supermarkets are Vietnamese. Typical examples include Ca Mau shrimp, basa fish, and Hoa Loc mangoes. In Central Retail Thailand supermarkets, many Vietnamese products are also popular, such as dragon fruit, pho, vermicelli, coffee, and tea. In 2024, the Corporation expects to continue seeking more strengths of Vietnamese products to be included in the system and exported abroad.
To support businesses to expand their exports to Thailand, ITPC plans to cooperate with Central Retail Vietnam Corporation to continue organizing a Trade Connection Week and product introduction space for Vietnamese products at Central Retail Vietnam’s GO! supermarkets in July 2024 to support Vietnamese businesses in product display and promotion, as well as meeting with purchasing representatives of various industries to create opportunities for products to enter the GO! supermarket chain of Central Retail Vietnam.