HANOI: According to statistics from the European – American Markets Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam-Russia trade has recorded strong growth, especially in the context of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) taking effect last year. In the first seven months of this year, trade turnover between Vietnam and Russia reached nearly 2 billion USD, up 27 percent year-on-year. Vietnam mainly exports mobile phones, garment and textiles, coffee, rice, machinery and grain products to Russia.
According to economists, Russia is a traditional market for Vietnamese goods. Although trade value has increased yearly, Russia’s demand for made-in-Vietnam commodities remains huge. Bui Huy Son, head of the Trade Promotion Agency under the MoIT, said that trade fairs and exhibitions are an effective channel to connect the two countries’ businesses, associations and organisations. Therefore, to boost domestic production and exports, businesses should seek to approach trade promotion agencies in Russia through trade fairs and exhibitions, Son suggested. Sharing experience in exporting products to Russia, Sergey Gusev from the EXPOCENTRE, said that his company has a subsidiary in charge of providing transportation services and customs services assistance. Russia is considering the transport of goods by train from Southeast Asia to Russia. If approved, this will help save time and costs for businesses, he stated. Viacheslav Kharinov, Chief Representative of the Russian Trade Office in Vietnam, stated that Vietnam is the first country signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EAEU, helping boost Russia-Vietnam trade.
Since the beginning of 2017, rapid increases have been seen in exports of cereals, coal, steel and chemicals from Russia to Vietnam and exports of mobile phone components, electronic products, clothing, footwear and agricultural products from Vietnam to Russia, he added. To make use of the FTA, Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, deputy head of the European – American Markets Department, suggested Vietnamese businesses search for market information to understand EAEU member states’ demands and improve the quality of the their products to make full use of the agreement’s advantages before the EAEU signs similar deals with other countries.
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong, the FTA between Vietnam and the EAEU became effective in October 2016, opening a huge opportunity for the two sides’ businesses. Vietnamese businesses can access a 183-million-people market with combined GDP of nearly 2.2 trillion USD. Vuong also asked enterprises to increase product quality and diversify products to raise their competitiveness.
