Polish businesses seek trade opportunities in Vietnam

Spokesmen for Vietnamese business said that throughout the trip, a keen interest was expressed by their Polish counterparts to do more business in Vietnam.

A representative from VIP Vietnam (Da Nang) Co, Ltd said the company have signed an agreement with Atibac International Trade of Poland on importing apple juice products into Vietnam.

Both sides settled on the terms relating to the quantity, price, quality and delivery of produce. After checking the quality of products sent from Poland, Atibac’s apple juice will hit the shelves of Vietnamese supermarkets in the near future.

With the exception of apple juice, VIP Co, Ltd has also reached a consensus with Mlekovita and Bumex on importing fresh and condensed milk products. The final cooperative agreement reached between the two sides is contingent on the successful passing of quality inspection from Vietnamese assessors.

Mr Pham DinhThanh, the Marketing and Business Development Director of VIP Co, Ltd said there are further huge opportunities for cooperation between Vietnamese and Polish businesses, citing the success of Polish goods in having secured a firm foothold in many European nations as proof of the possibilities.

According to statistics from National Support Centre for Agriculture (KOWR), Poland accounted for 30% of the market share of apples in the whole of the EU.

They have seen further success in their exports, with Polish raspberry making up 61% of the EU’s supply, strawberry 16% and cherry 33%. Poland is the world leader in blueberry production in terms of output, making up 73% of the EU market.

A report by the General Department of Customs revealed that Poland earned US$143.2 million from exporting their products to Vietnam in the first eight months of the year alone.

Poland exported to Vietnam US$26.5 million of milk and dairy products and US$33.1 million of pharmaceutical products. Poland’s key farm produce exports such as apple, strawberry, poultry, and cattle remain modest.

However, Tomasz Parxybut, general director of the Association of Polish Butchers and Meat Processors (SRW RP) said this trend would continue to develop as the demands of high quality meat products and other processed food have rapidly increased in Vietnam.

This rapid increase looks set to continue as the EU has endevoured to speed up ratification of the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), making it take effect in 2018. The move will be a boost to bilateral trade between the two countries, Mr Parxybut noted.

According to the EVFTA, frozen pork from EU to Vietnam will be duty free after 7 years, beef after 3 years and chicken after 10 years, further simplifying trade.

However, Mr Parxybut said despite the substantial reduction in tariffs, the export of these products to Vietnam cannot increase sharply due to high prices out pricing Vietnamese customers. But, with a population of 92 million in Vietnam, there remain huge opportunities for frozen pork from Poland.

A representative from Royal Apple brand name said Royal Apple have partnered with Vietnamese businesses to build a sales distribution network. Although its products are sold in small quantity, the company has received positive feedback.

The representative emphasized that the company will continue to promote these products in Vietnam to seize opportunities from the EVFTA.

Along with Royal Apple, several Polish businesses are seeking to open sales channels in Vietnam. Mr Kazimierz Pietrek from the Export Department of the Celiko Company said after five months, the company has not received any response from customers on the design. However, he affirmed that Vietnam is still an attractive market for Polish businesses and many will continue to seek Vietnamese partners.