(VOVworld) – With an abundant resource of fresh agricultural and food materials all year round, Vietnam’s traditional products have successfully penetrated the international market. But many export items haven’t yet overcome trade barriers in the required EU market. To help Vietnamese exporters gain a firm foothold, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has launched a 3-year export promotion support program until 2016. 

Over the past 20 years, Vietnam’s food processing industry has developed, producing convenient items such as soft drinks, milk and milk-based products, vegetable oil, powder and processed flour. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has added the food-processing industry to a list of competitively-advantageous products which needs strategic development orientation using advanced technologies and making full use of domestic materials. Currently, the EU remains the world biggest market for consumer beverages and foodstuffs and great potential for Vietnam.

The first trade-promoting EMPRETEC center in Asia is located in Vietnam. It’s a UN program established by the UNCTAD to promote the creation of sustainable, innovative, and internationally competitive SMEs.

“The biggest difficulty for Vietnam’s processed food exports is the legal requirements of European countries. The EU is a highly demanding market in terms of technical criteria including organic food standards and fair trade. On top of these technical and legal barriers, there are separate requirements for all importers to meet social and environmental conditions.”

The most efficient way to help Vietnamese exporters develop the European market is to provide them with adequate information on the legal systems and market regulations of European nations. Meanwhile, domestic exporters themselves should change their ways of doing business in order to be able to access the market. Doctor Pham Van Chat, an economist, comments:

“Many enterprises say they lack export markets. When they’ve got a new market and have signed a contract, they haven’t attached importance to the legality of the contract. From this point of view, I think we need to provide accurately processed information for enterprises and call for support from trade organizations.”

The signing ceremony of 1.5 million Euro program to promote Vietnamese processed food exports to Europe (Photo: ven.vn)

The Trade Promotion Agency and the Netherlands’ Centre for the Promotion of Imports for developing countries (CBI) have jointly launched an export promotion support program to assist Vietnamese businesses in penetrating the European market. Estimated at EUR1.5 million including EUR1 million from CBI and the remainder from Vietnam, the program aims to support exporters of high-value products from the food processing sector to the EU. Ms. Thuy adds:

“Participants will benefit greatly from the program, especially in terms of technical support. When a business commits to accompanying the program, it will be supported from the beginning to the end to ensure that its products will be exported to the European market.”

The program also focuses on improving marketing capacity, sustainability, and ensuring that product quality satisfies the requirements of the importing markets. The CBI will provide consultancy advice for businesses to organise an international fair on food-processing in Vietnam next year.

To Tuan