Investors from Poland seize opportunity to corporate in foodstuff

Poland and Vietnam enhance connections

Poland considers Vietnam as one of six priority markets, however, Polish businesses have limited information about Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnamese businesses know even less about Poland as a market. To remedy this, Polish enterprises recently visited Vietnam to learn about the market and seek co-operation opportunities.

A dozen Polish enterprises arrived to Ho Chi Minh City to find partnerships with Vietnamese businesses to enhance economic co-operation and research the market.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the city invited Polish enterprises to seek for opportunities for investment co-operation.

The city is willing to play a role as a bridge to help Poland approach the Asia-Pacific, and Ho Chi Minh City hopes that Polish enterprises will give priority to investment in food processing, consumer goods, information technology (IT), education, and culture.

Meanwhile, Piotr Harasimowicz, chief representative officer of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in Ho Chi Minh City (PAIH), said that there are many commodities such as rice, fruit, agricultural products, and cooking oil, for which the Polish market has great demand and Vietnam could but has not exported to Poland.

“The solution for promoting co-operation between the two countries is to strengthen information exchange to capture market trends and draw in future partners,” said Piotr Harasimowicz.

Strengthening cooperation in food sector

Harasimowicz said at the seminar on import-export opportunities for Vietnamese and Polish businesses held in Ho Chi Minh City that Poland considers Vietnam a priority market to co-operate in the upcoming time in some potential sectors, especially in processed food products.

To actualise this goal, Poland plans to boost meat exports to Asia, including Vietnam. Poland's 1,300 meat factories and 200,000 livestock breeders who follow the closed cycle manufacturing, ensuring food hygiene and safe processing, will have great opportunities to increase market share in Vietnam.

Nguyen Quoc Dien, marketing director of Ben Nghe Trade Production Co., Ltd. said that the geographical distance has been reduced by the opening of the first Vietnam-Poland direct flight. In addition, freight transport by sea and air between Vietnam and Europe (particularly Poland) are quite diversified and could facilitate increased trade between the two countries.

According to Lam Tien Dat, representative of An Phat Foods Co., Ltd., the consumption of poultry meat in Vietnam is quite large, which makes poultry from the EU a potential import item in Vietnam.

“We have started to study the process of breeding and slaughtering poultry from Poland,” Dat said, adding that An Phat is importing poultry products from across the world, in quite modest quantities.