Vietnamese goods satisfy Russian demand, official

Vietnamese products were completely able to meet Russian residents' demand especially farm produce, wooden items and light industrial products, said Mr. Nikolay Kapustkin, deputy chief representative of the Russia Trade Office in Vietnam at a conference hosted in Ho Chi Minh City recently.

The conference was hosted by the city People’s Committee on a program to take HCMC businesses to Russia in September and November to do surveys about local market before attending the Vietnamese High Quality Goods Fair in Moscow 2015 from November 12 to December 12.

Businesses were in front of a big opportunity from the Vietnam-EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union) Free Trade Agreement and should grasp it, Mr. Kapustkin said.

HCMC People’s Committee deputy chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong said that the program aimed to help businesses learn about Russian residents’ demand and well prepare for exports Vietnamese products to this market. In long term, she urged the businesses to improve their goods’ quality to better exploit the potential market.

Vietnamese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Nguyen Thanh Son affirmed large opportunities and potentials from the VN-EAEU FTA for HCMC companies.

The Vietnamese Embassy to Russia would give Vietnamese firms with assistances to boost exports, Son added.

The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade has built up and submitted the city People’s Committee a plan on trade and investment promotion in Russia.

The 143.5 million people Russian market with GDP per capital of US$14,611 a year is estimated to be a large and potential consumption and retail market, especially to agro, aqua and forestry products of Vietnam.

Import tariff imposed on these products have been cut by 30-50 percent compared to that when Russia was not a WTO member.

Right after the VN-EAEU FTA is implemented, 90 percent of tariff lines will be removed, equivalent to 90 percent bilateral trade turnover.

Eighty percent of tariff lines on garment and textile and footwear products will be lowered to 0 percent. The rest lines will continue reducing in accordance with a route that two sides have agreed with.

VN-Russia trade turnover is targeted at US$7 billion in 2015 and US$10 billion five years later.

The numbers of Vietnamese people living, working and studying in Russia and Russian visitors to Vietnam have been increasing year on year. There are some direct flights between Russia and big cities of Vietnam. Those are enough advantages to increase the volume of Vietnamese goods to Russia.

Besides advantages and potentials, there are a number of difficulties for Vietnamese firms to boost exports to Russian market such as legal risks, complicated administrative procedures, costly export code opening, payment term between Vietnamese dong and Russian ruble, and high transport costs, according to the Department of Industry and Trade.

Businesses should attend in the city’s trade promotion activities to deal with these difficulties and minimize risks, it said.