Plenty of room for Vietnam’s agricultural, aquatic, foodstuff products in Japanese market

Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)

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.

Despite impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade between the two countries reached 42.7 billion USD in 2021, up 7.8 percent against the previous year, data from the trade office showed.

Vietnam’s exports to Japan totalled 20.1 billion USD last year, up 4.4 percent year-on-year, while imports were worth 22.6 billion USD, up 11.3 percent. Vietnam exported 1.8 billion USD worth of agricultural and aquatic products to Japan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5 percent.

Except for aquatic products, a key export item, recording a 7.4-percent decline, the remaining items saw good growth, particularly coffee (25.5 percent), vegetables and fruits (20 percent), cashew nuts (39 percent), and pepper (56 percent).

Vietnam's lychee put on sale in a AEON market (Photo: VNA)

Notably, some Vietnamese fruits are gaining popularity among Japanese consumers with a growing market share, such as dragon fruit, mango, coconut and lychee.

The Vietnamese products are winning favour of not only local customers but also consumers from other Asian countries living in Japan. They have become more and more popular on shelves of major Japanese retail chains, including AEON, Donkihote, and Itoyokado, the trade office said.

The Vietnamese Trade Office in Japan has been making all possible efforts to boost Vietnam’s agricultural and aquatic product exports to Japan. It has accelerated partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and local administrations of both countries to organise virtual seminars introducing Vietnam’s products and connect exporters and importers.

It has also released a series of manuals to provide help for Vietnamese exporters looking to enter a high-standard market like Japan. Each manual covers a specific type of product, from seafood, beverage, to spices, clothing and timber products./.