Vietnam's economy lures New Zealand exporters

ABO/NDO - Vietnam is emerging as a good option for Kiwi exporters looking to diversify where they sell their goods, said New Zealand’s new site 1news.co.nz in a recent article.

The article cited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand’s report prepared by the Embassy in Hanoi as saying between 2016 and 2021, Vietnam led ASEAN in terms of growth per capita. This growth rate is higher than that of other major ASEAN markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, or the Philippines.

Trade Commissioner Joseph Nelson said Vietnam is a "frontier market" presenting new opportunities, and challenges, to Kiwi exporters looking to diversify.

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA).

"As Vietnam has come out of its COVID waves, we are seeing a really strong bounce back in the economy. GDP is expected to be between 6.5% to 7.5% next year," he said as quoted by the article. "All the markets in Southeast Asia are bouncing back quite strongly, but Vietnam definitely is the best performing market at this point."

Comments by Chairman and CEO of the KPMG Vietnam Warrick Cleine was also cited as saying since the free trade agreements were set up between New Zealand and Vietnam, their two-way trade value has grown significantly to about 2 billion USD this year.

He said there are three key things in the Vietnamese market that will be attractive to New Zealand businesses, namely the local consumer market, a safe geo-political position, and a great free-trade network.

At present, food and beverage products make up almost two-thirds of New Zealand exports to Vietnam. And there's appetite for more, as consumers there have become more health conscious post COVID.

Fonterra’s head of global foodservice Paul Harvey said the Vietnamese markets are not just for well-established businesses.

"I'd suggest to other companies thinking about their expansion strategy [to look to Vietnam]. It is a country sizeable in size, easy to do businesses, and consumers are looking for innovation," he said as quoted by the article. "The Government has handled COVID well; fiscal policy has been strong; inflation is still in check; consumer spending is on the rise; borders are open again - so it's a great opportunity now for people to be thinking about this country".

(Source: NDO)