Many Opportunities for Vietnamese Goods to Gain Foothold in Russia

According to Nguyen Thi Hong, Vice Chair of the Ho Chi Minh City's People's Committee, despite confronting the complicated economic situation in the world, in the past few years, the trade turnover between Vietnam and Russia has still maintained growth, though the pace is yet modest and not commensurate with the potential and aspirations of both parties. Ms Hong stressed: "I am confident that cooperation opportunities for the two countries will widen further after the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan is concluded, expected to be by the end of 2014."

 

On the side of Ho Chi Minh City, Ms Hong said that the city always considers Russia one of its key potential markets. As of September 2014, there had been 20 Russian investment projects in the city with the total investment capital of US$44.37 million. In terms of trade, Russia is one of the important trading partners of the city with the total export turnover of the first 9 months of 2014 reaching about US$206 million. Particularly in the field of tourism, Russia is among the 10 countries and territories with the biggest number of visitors coming to the city. With a desire to further enhance the promotion of investment, trade and tourism activities in the vast market of the Russian Federation, in September, the city's delegation had a working trip to Moscow and Saint Petersburg to learn and understand the actual situation of tourism activities and commercial market demands in Russia. The success of the trip has opened up many new opportunities for cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Russia, thus contributing to boosting overall bilateral relations. From this success, in the next time, the city will have a specific plan aimed to promote deeply this high potential market.

 

Agreeing with Ms Hong, Director of VCCI-HCM Mr Vo Tan Thanh said that during the past time, the bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Russia has maintained steady growth at a high level. Specifically, the goods exchange turnover between Vietnam and Russia in 2013 reached nearly US$2.8 billion, up 13 percent compared to the same period in 2012. In the first 9 months of 2014, it reached over US$1.8 billion. One prioritized cooperation direction in 2014 is the promotion of FTA negotiations between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Once the FTA is signed, it is certain that the import turnover of Vietnam's goods to Russia and the countries of the Customs Union will increase, contributing to realizing the goal of increasing trade turnover between Vietnam and Russia to US$7 billion in 2015 and US$10 billion in 2020.

 

Particularly in the field of investment, Mr Thanh said that cumulatively, in terms of the number of valid projects until 20th September 2014, Russia ranked 17th out of 101 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 104 projects, and the total registered capital of nearly US$2 billion. A new direction that Vietnam is focusing on is to develop nuclear energy. In response to this demand, Russia is willing to become a major partner of Vietnam in building a nuclear power plant, with its experience and advantages of technology. The first plant is Ninh Thuan 1 plant. For its part, Vietnam also has a number of investment projects in Russia, including Hanoi - Moscow Trade Centre, one of the most iconic projects.

 

According to Golikov Maxim, Chief Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - Russia cooperation in the past time has been continuously strengthened in all fields, especially the fields of tourism and industry with impressive growth speed. This will be an important platform to further promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

 

Mr Borovik Anatoliy said that with abundant potential and open markets, Vietnam is considered a firm mainstay for Russian businesses to penetrate the Asia Pacific region. In contrast to the large population and consumption power, Russia is a potential market for Vietnamese businesses to explore. However Mr Borovik Anatoliy recommended that for Vietnamese goods to compete with those from other countries and gain a strong foothold in the Russian market, it is essential to focus on improving quality and diversification of models.