Promoting Exports to Belgium

According to the data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in 2012, the trade turnover between the two countries reached US$1.5 billion, on par with the previous year. In January 2013, Vietnam had a trade surplus of US$94 million with Belgium, increasing 58.05 percent compared to the same period last year.

 

Belgium is a big market of Vietnam. Vietnam’s main exports to Belgium include footwear; textiles; seafood; handbags, wallets, suitcases, hats and umbrellas. In addition, Belgium is a big import market of building stone, wood, coal, rubber and coffee from Vietnam. Belgium imports a lot of seafood to serve domestic demand. In fact, seafood productivity of Belgium is not high. The aquaculture industry also has modest production and it didn’t increase significantly in recent years. Meanwhile, demand for seafood is growing. The main seafood products imported into Belgium are mollusks, canned products, crustaceans, fresh fish fillets, fresh fish and frozen fish. However, the seafood products of Vietnam often face direct competition from similar items or replaced items from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Brazil.

On the import side, Vietnam imports from Belgium mainly machinery, equipment, tools and parts, iron and steel, chemical products, pharmaceuticals, plastic materials, chemicals and animal feed.

 

However, in practice, the trade turnover is still not commensurate with the potential and desire of the both countries. Vietnam's trade relation with Belgium is still modest. Explaining this, many experts said that for Vietnamese goods to enter Belgium, they have to pass European standards. All the safety standards of food hygiene, technique and required quality are very strict. This is difficult for Vietnamese enterprises.

 

In general, for Vietnamese goods, especially seafood, to better penetrate the Belgian market, it’s necessary to have policies for proper distribution channels. Currently, intermediate companies in charge of transferring, storage, preservation and distribution of products to supermarkets still play a significant role. Supermarkets are the most important distribution channel of seafood, (accounting for nearly 70 percent of all retail seafood). Small stores in Flanders are in charge of the rest. However, the roles of small stores also tends to decrease as they cede market share to big supermarkets.

 

In addition, businesses need to focus on the psychology of Belgian consumers for specific items (mussels, oysters, shrimp, salmon cabillaud, halibut) and the ability to compete directly with Belgium’s neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands, France, Denmark and Italy. The focus is promoting in areas with high power consumption also should be carried out simultaneously.

 

In particular, through the Belgian market, Vietnamese businesses will find it easier to access the European markets in the region. So, in recent years, the two countries have paid more attention to promoting trade relations. Vietnam’s central and local agencies have increased cooperation with three areas of Belgium, Wallonie, Flanders, and the capital Brussels.

 

On investment, Vietnam and Belgium signed the Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments on 24 January 1991. By December 2012, Belgium had had 42 projects with total registered investment capital of US$134.6 million, ranking 35th out of 98 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Implemented investment capital was about US$40 million. FDI of Belgium mainly goes to the industrial sector, accounting for 58 percent of the projects and 71.6 percent of the total investment capital from Belgium.

 

About investment of Vietnam to Belgium, Vietnam now has two projects which are the Trade Promotion Centre in Brussels (US$152,000) and Investment Commerce Fisheries Corporation Europe (US$90,000).

 

Vietnam-Belgium import-export turnover – Unit: US$ 1.000