(VOVworld) - The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to seek business opportunities in Russia and the European Union (EU).

At the conference, delegates agreed Vietnam is still lacking in information about these markets. When expanding its market in Russia, Vietnamese enterprises should invest both quality and time, they suggested. Deputy Director of Europe Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Nguyen Duc Thuong said: "The EU is an identical bloc but they have different culture backgrounds and consumption habits. So, it is a great challenge for the enterprises to produce goods to meet the demands of many countries. Moreover, the EU has policies to protect the bloc’s production, enterprises will be affected with the protection and anti-tariff policies". 

The EU is Vietnam’s largest export market, with two-way trade reaching 20.3 billion USD last year. In the first nine months of this year, their trade value was 17.8 billion USD. Russia is also one of Vietnam’s large trade partner. Two-way trade last year fetched 3.7 billion USD, and the figure is expected to rise to more than 4 billion USD this year. Key Vietnamese exports to these markets include garment and textiles, footwear, seafood, coffee and timber.