The economic ties between Vietnam and France have been continuously developed. Enterprises of the two countries always actively maintain, establish and refresh relations. Since 2000, Vietnam always enjoys trade surplus in import-export with France. Mr Pham Xuan Yen, Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in France, said: the Vietnam’s total import and export turnover to France was 1.75 billion euro in 2007, a rise of over 32 per cent against 2006 (roughly 1.5 billion euro).
Particularly, Vietnam earned 1.33 billion euro from exports to France, a rise of 23.39 per cent against 2006 (around 1.162 billion euro). The figure in 2008 was expected to be 20.1 per cent higher than that in 2007. Key exports of Vietnam to France are footwear, apparels, textiles, household appliances, seafood and coffee. Besides, at present, 13 per cent of Frenchmen, or 8.3 million people, have a monthly income of 660 euro. This is a potential market segment for Vietnamese firms, Yen said.
In spite of high export value, according to Mr Yen, most Vietnamese exported commodities are outsourced products like footwear and apparels. Besides, Vietnamese enterprises have not been able to position their trademarks in France. Another difficulty for Vietnamese firms is strict technical barriers that a few Vietnamese enterprises can satisfy. Meanwhile, France’s total export revenue to Vietnam was 420 million euro in 2007, an increase of 47.35 per cent against 2006 (324 million euro). The revenue in 2008 is expected to be 20 per cent higher than the amount in 2007. Vietnam’s imports from France are electric equipment, electronics products, pharmaceuticals, mechanical products, chemicals, gemstones and jewelleries.
At the Vietnam - France Business Forum held in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2008, an executive from Thai Binh Leather and Shoe Joint Stock Company said “EU countries are always our top partners for the past 15 years. From a company with 1,000 employees, we now have 12,000 people. In 2007, we secured annual sales of US$70 million. In fact, our EU partners also made significant development. In France, our partners were initially infamous and strong at sports shoes but now they have strong sales networks in France. Our experience shows that mutual trust and cooperation will help overcome weaknesses and promote strengths for mutual development.” Thai Binh Leather and Shoe Joint Stock Company takes charge of techniques and products and French partners are responsible for market research, design, marketing and distribution. This helps the company reduce production costs and benefits both sides and customers.
France and Europe remain potential markets for Vietnamese enterprises to exploit. Thus, as a seller, Vietnam is in needs of assistance to build quality valuation and examination criteria and quality management legal frameworks. Besides, it also needs assistance for human resource training to approach the European market.
Vietnamese
