Processing and exporting seafood. Photo: VNA

In the context of the Covid-19 epidemic having a profound impact on the global supply chain, affecting the transport of goods between countries, increasing logistics costs, the ASEAN market with the advantage of geographical distance is growing rapidly. opening up cooperation opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises.

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Nam, Deputy Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, affirmed so at the International Workshop on Introduction of new import and export management regulations and trade opportunities with foreign markets. The ASEAN market in the post-Covid-19 era was organized by the Asia-Africa Market Department on November 26 in both face-to-face and online formats.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phuc Nam, ASEAN is Vietnam's fourth largest export market after the United States, China and the European Union (EU).

In 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the import and export of goods between Vietnam and ASEAN had a slight decline, down 6.8% compared to 2019, reaching 53.6 billion USD.

However, in 2021, thanks to efforts to understand and exploit the advantages and opportunities brought by the ASEAN market, Vietnam-ASEAN trade has recovered and regained its growth momentum.

Therefore, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and ASEAN in the 10 months of 2021 reached 56.6 billion USD, up 30% over the same period in 2020, higher than Vietnam's average import and export growth with world is 22.6%.

Moreover, with the advantage of ASEAN being a close market to help businesses save on transportation costs, warehousing costs, businesses can also choose a method of transporting goods such as sea, road, air transport. .

Although ASEAN is a market area with cultural diversity, there is still unity in the whole. Although each country has its own customs and habits, they all have an agricultural cultural background, so habits and consumer tastes are close, intersecting, and have many similarities. Therefore, Vietnamese goods can penetrate and be popular in the ASEAN market, meeting the requirements for quality as well as price.

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Nam added that exporting to ASEAN is the first step for Vietnamese goods to continue to penetrate other markets with higher and more demanding requirements.

Currently, most of the imports and exports between ASEAN countries have enjoyed 0% tariff preferences under the 0% goods trade agreement or some more special goods incentives under some bilateral agreements. which Vietnam has signed with Laos and Cambodia.

In the future, ASEAN countries will accelerate the implementation of economic recovery measures after the pandemic, such as commitments on market opening, supply chain assurance, and trade facilitation. for Vietnamese enterprises to further exploit the potential of this market area.

However, Mr. Nguyen Phuc Nam also pointed out that: There are still many businesses that have not paid enough attention to this market or have not grasped information about the specific market, especially since the Covid-19 epidemic. outbreak.

In fact, ASEAN countries are entering the recovery phase, with great demand for imported goods. Including Thailand and Singapore. Because Thailand is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN.

Lychee has entered the top 10 fruit and vegetable products with high export value of Vietnam to Singapore. Photo: VNA

According to Thailand's statistical agency, by the end of October 2021, Thailand's total import and export turnover reached over US$443 billion, up 23% over the same period in 2020. Notably, groups of imported goods with a fast growth rate from 8% to over 100%, mostly input materials and machinery for production.

Sharing more about the Thai market, Ms. Tran Thi Thanh My, Trade Counselor of Vietnam in Thailand, said that Thailand has relaxed import and export regulations, making trade more convenient and resuming the supply chain. to meet the global demand for goods and services. This is a great opportunity for Vietnamese exporters.

According to Ms. Tran Thu Quynh, Trade Counselor in Singapore, if in 2016, Vietnam's export turnover to Singapore market reached 4.1 billion SGD, equivalent to 2.99 billion USD, by 2020 the figure will be This amount has reached 5.5 billion SGD, equivalent to about 4.01 billion USD.

Particularly in the first nine months of 2021, Vietnam's exports to this market increased by 31% and had a surplus of about 600 million SGD, equivalent to 437 million USD.

Ms. Tran Thu Quynh added that Singapore is currently aiming to be 30% self-sufficient in food by 2030 even though the country has no agriculture. Therefore, in order to realize this ambitious goal, the demand for cooperation in food production and food production of the lion island nation is huge.

Currently, Singapore is very interested in the ability to coordinate farming to export to this country. Therefore, farm and farm enterprises have many cooperation opportunities in this field.

In order to respond to the epidemic as well as to restore the economy and support domestic production, Mr. Nguyen Phuc Nam said that ASEAN countries have issued many new policies and regulations related to economic trade, import and export. , customs clearance, epidemic prevention, affecting export goods of Vietnam.

Notably, some regulations on epidemic prevention can change very quickly and suddenly, making it difficult for businesses if they cannot capture timely, complete and accurate information.

Ms. Tran Thi Thanh My also shared that over the past time, the Vietnam Trade Office in Thailand has received 2-3 times more petitions than before the Covid-19 epidemic about fraudulent businesses, owners and investors. Mainly, some businesses impersonate reputable Thai businesses to trick Vietnamese businesses.

Therefore, whenever businesses see a suspicious signal, they can contact the Trade Office to verify in order to minimize unfortunate incidents.

Theo TTXVN