Following the recent 4th Traditional Quality Wine Tasting event in HCMC and Hanoi, jointly launched by the French and Italian Trade Commissions, Vietnam Business Forum had an interview with Mr. Marc CAGNARD, Director of UBIFRANCE in Vietnam about partnerships and development opportunities between Vietnamese and French businesses in the past few weeks. Nam Pham reports.
As a trade promotion agency that helps French companies look for business partners in the Vietnamese market, can you highlight UBIFRANCE’s key efforts in Vietnam recently?
As you may know, 2013 highlights the 40th anniversary of the France-Vietnam diplomatic ties. That celebration has and will be reflected through a variety of events covering all areas. Specifically, early July, six French companies (Tractel, Secalt, ETI, INS, Dumont and KECK Chimie) attended the 11th MTA Vietnam exhibition to present and promote their advanced equipments and technologies to the local mechanical sector. Then, the 4th Traditional Quality Wine Tasting brought 9 French producers (Alliance Alsace GIE, Armagnac Castarède, Champagne Moutardier, Château Classic - Le Monde des Grands Bordeaux, Domaine de Malavieille, French Fine Wines, Ruby, SCEA Baron de Montfort and Vignerons Catalans), all new comers, on the market. They met more than 200 Vietnamese wine experts who have tasted Champagne, Armagnac and other premium wines from the most renowned wine producing regions in France (Alsace, Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire Valley, Provence, South West).
Vietnam is a dynamic wine market. What French wine makers are going to do to create more business opportunities in this market?
The market of alcoholic drinks in Vietnam is currently one of the most dynamic in Asia with a growth rate of 10% in 2012. Thanks to the quality and the prestigious reputation of its products, France is this year once again the leader of the wine exporting countries in Vietnam with a market share of 14%. That represents a 7% increase compared to 2011. The amount of French spirits exports is estimated at around 9 M EUR in 2012, with mainly Cognac, Armagnac, eaux-de-vie and liquors. Participating in such trade promotion events is an effective way to help French wine makers to enlarge their market share in Vietnam. Despite the challenging economic conditions, wine consumption in Vietnam has been quite promising with an estimated 20% growth rate. The Vietnamese taste for wines has substantially changed. Previously, Vietnamese often cared for red wines first, then white wines, but now the range is more wide. In the last four years, following every wine tasting event, new producers and new wines have always been unveiled each year, which is a proof that French wine companies successfully found importing partners.
What can you say about the trade cooperation potential between our two countries in the future?
2013 is a highly important year for French-Vietnamese relationship, thanks first of all, to the 40th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations, but also thanks to the France-Vietnam Year and the development of bilateral political ties between our two countries. This particular year is undoubtedly a turning point in our economic relationships. A large number of economic events have already taken place and a lot are planned by UBIFRANCE before the end of the year, involving a total of almost 350 companies coming from France to develop commercial and industrial partnerships with Vietnamese counterparts.
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