Vietnam, Japan hold favourable conditions for trade expansion: experts
Vietnam and Japan have the potential to expand trade in various fields, particularly farm produce and food, experts said at a consultation for Vietnamese exporters held in both online and in-person formats on April 8.
Vietnamese lychees are sold at AEON Lake Town supermarket in Saitama, Japan. (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Japan have the potentialto expand trade in various fields, particularly farm produce and food, expertssaid at a consultation for Vietnamese exporters held in both online and in-person formats on April 8.
Participants said Japan has high demand for agriculturalproducts, seafood and processed foods; while Vietnam has competitive advantagesin these areas.
Vietnam and Japan are both members of four bilateral and multilateralfree trade agreements – the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA), the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN - Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) and the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
In order to penetrate deeper into the Japanese market, Vietnameseenterprises need to research and produce goods suitable to the tastes ofJapanese consumers, advised Ta Minh Duc, Trade Counselor at the Vietnam TradeOffice in Japan.
The packaging needs to be eye-catching and the labels must provideadequate information, he added.
Duc recommended Vietnamese exporters to pay attention toJapan’s strict requirements for product quality and food safety, as well theverification of their Japanese partners’ profiles.
Quyen Thi Thuy Ha, head of the office’s branch in Osaka,said language is a barrier for Vietnamese businesses which needs to be overcome.
She suggested Vietnamese firms build their profiles in bothJapanese and English and launch their own websites to advertise their products.
Japan is currently Vietnam’s 4th largest export partner and3rd largest import partner. Between 2012 and 2021, import and export turnoverincreased from 24.7 billion USD to 42.8 billion USD.
Vietnam's agricultural, aquatic and food products are availableon the shelves of major supermarket chains in Japan, such as AEON, Donkihoteand Itoyokado.
The number of Vietnamese people living in Japan has also increasedrapidly in recent years to nearly 500,000 in 2021./.
Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan organised a trade exchange to connect businesses of Vietnam and Japan in the field of food processing.
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There is plenty of room for Vietnam’s agricultural, aquatic and foodstuff products to gain a bigger market share in Japan as the country has high demand for those imported, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Japan.
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The event, co-organised by the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK and TT Meridian, a local importer of Vietnamese fresh produce, aims to build a national lychee brand and encourage broader recognition of Vietnamese fruits in a competitive, high-end market.
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Vietnamese lychees are sold at AEON Lake Town supermarket in Saitama, Japan. (Source: VNA) 
