Chilean firms show strong interest in Vietnamese agricultural products
VOV.VN - More than 60 Chilean enterprises have expressed interest in importing Vietnamese products, especially rice, dried fruit, coffee, frozen seafood, and ready to eat food, during the 2025 Espacio Food & Service Fair held in Santiago de Chile from September 30 to October 2.
The fair attracted nearly 40,000 visitors, including importers, distributors, representatives of restaurant and hotel chains, and food and beverage industry experts from across South America.
Spanning 34,442 square metres with over 1,400 booths, the event is regarded as the largest trade fair in Chile’s food and beverage sector. It brought together thousands of businesses displaying products, processing technologies, packaging solutions, and hosting business to-business matching (B2B) activities and industry seminars.
Vietnam actively participated with a pavilion featuring samples from around 50 domestic enterprises, mainly agricultural produce and processed foods such as rice, coffee, dried fruit, fruit juice, spices, and ready‑to‑eat meals, along with certain handicraft and kitchenware items, aiming to promote quality and explore deeper access to the South American market.
The interest shown by dozens of importers in Vietnamese products signals a positive trend as bilateral trade between the two countries grows strongly.
According to the Chilean National Customs Service, over the past eight months of 2025, the trade turnover between Vietnam and Chile reached US$1.22 billion, up 22.3% compared to the same period last year. Of this, Chile imported goods from Vietnam worth more than US$1 billion, a 28.5% increase and exported over US$204 million to Vietnam, a decline of 1.5%.
Vietnam is currently Chile’s 12th largest goods supplier, accounting for 1.8% of the market share, up from 1.4% in 2024. The country’s key export items to Chile include machinery and equipment, mobile phones, footwear, computers, garments, and rice.
Notably, during the reviewed period, various Vietnamese goods recorded strong growth compared to the same period in 2024: optical fibre and cables surged by more than 264%, machinery and equipment rose 149%, transport vehicles and parts increased 142%, refrigerators and freezers grew 126%, and rice climbed 91.7%. Footwear and garments also maintained double‑digit growth, demonstrating huge potential for Vietnamese goods in the Chilean market.
Chilean businesses encouraged to invest in Vietnam
State President Luong Cuong met with prominent business executives from the Promotion Society Fabril (SOFOFA) in Santiago de Chile on November 11, as part of his official visit to Chile starting on November 9.
