How to increase export of locally-branded products to EU under discussion

Vietnamese exports to most markets within the EU have enjoyed stable growth, although the number of Vietnam-branded goods still remains modest.

According to details given by Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, deputy director of the Export Promotion Centre at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, the European bloc represents a key market for Vietnam.

The agency has therefore prioritised many activities with the EU in a bid to help Vietnamese businesses build, develop, and protect their brands in the market, Thuy said.

A series of consulting sessions has also been organized as a means of helping businesses to understand more about the demand, market trends, regulations, and updated policies of the EU market, thereby making suitable adjustments to their brand development strategies and future plans.

It has also paid close attention to raising awareness among businesses in terms of building, developing, and protecting brands in the EU market. This is being done through programmes, conferences, seminars, and training, including online events, Thuy noted.

She added that her agency has co-ordinated work with the Vietnam Trade Offices in European nations as a way of building and developing showrooms to popularize Vietnamese goods in the host countries.  

Thuy has advised Vietnamese exporters to closely study their competitors in the EU, as well as how they build their brands, thus increasing the overall competitiveness of locally-branded products.

According to statistics compiled by the MoIT, Vietnamese export turnover to the EU from August, 2020, to July reached US$83.4 billion, US$41.7 billion per year, 24% higher than the annual average export turnover in the 2016 to 2019 period.

However, experts believe there is ample room for more Vietnamese goods to enter the EU market, particularly as Vietnamese goods account for less than 2% of the US$2.5 trillion export turnover to the market each year.