“Vietnam is a very important and long-term agriculture market for Poland”

“Vietnam is a very important and long-term agriculture market for Poland,” said Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lech Kolakowski at a press conference to introduce Polish agricultural products and foods. The event, themed “Tasteful Europe - Tradition and Quality”, was organized by the Promotion Center under the Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KIGCP) in collaboration with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Ho Chi Minh City Branch (VCCI HCM).

Deputy Minister Lech Kolakowski said that Vietnam-Poland trade cooperation in agriculture and food has grown remarkably. In 2022 alone, Poland’s import and export value of agricultural products and foods with Vietnam reached €154 million. The Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the business community always consider Vietnam a very important and long-term agricultural market for Poland.

He added that he met with Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien regarding pepper market expansion a few days ago. In addition, the Polish delegation is also promoting many potential cooperation programs with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, aiming to bolster the investment cooperation of Vietnamese and Polish companies.

Global trade has been recently volatile and agricultural and food import/export has stalled as well. Despite strong agriculture, Poland also faced a lot of difficulties. However, the comprehensive and productive cooperation between Vietnam and Poland has partly proved that these obstacles are completely insignificant.

As an important EU food producer, Poland is currently a top producer of chicken, beef, pork, goose meat, fresh vegetables, confectionery, alcoholic drinks, cow's milk and especially dairy products. Polish agricultural products and foods have been exported to more than 200 countries worldwide. With a population of nearly 100 million, Vietnam will be an extremely potential market for Polish food businesses. "I very much expect that, in a short time to come, agricultural and food products of Europe, including those of Poland, will appear in many shops, restaurants and supermarkets in Vietnam and in daily meals of every Vietnamese family, so that people can enjoy delicious foods from Poland," he said.

A Vietnam-Poland business matching workshop was also held at Sofitel Saigon Plaza Hotel in the afternoon of the same day. Speaking at the event, Mr. Nguyen Huu Nam, Deputy Director of VCCI HCM, said that although Vietnam and Poland both have strong agriculture, their products do not compete but effectively support each other. Poland has a great demand for products that are Vietnam's strong exports like aquatic products (e.g. pangasius, basa fish and shrimp) and agricultural products (e.g. coffee, pepper, rice, tea, mango, pineapple and passion fruit). Meanwhile, Poland can supply Vietnam with fresh and processed foods, fresh and canned fruits, concentrated fruit extracts, and high quality beef, lamb and pork manufactured according to EU standards. "Poland has rich experience in developing high-tech agriculture and Vietnam can learn from such valuable experience to improve its agricultural technology, including specialized agriculture, fertilizers, machinery and post-harvest preservation," he emphasized.

Sharing the same view, Deputy Minister Lech Kolakowski said: "With abundant potential and open cooperation opportunities, I hope that Vietnam will soon become a distribution center for Polish food to all other markets in Southeast Asia. As a Polish authority, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development always encourages and facilitates Vietnamese agricultural products to enter Poland. We will always support importing and exporting agricultural products and foods of Vietnam to the EU."n

 By My Chau, Vietnam Business Forum