Singapore businessman sees opportunities in Vietnam
“There are a lot of opportunities to do business in Vietnam,” said Jeffrey Yu, Merchandise Director of Giant Singapore, adding that his company will import more products from Vietnam, especially litchi.
At the inauguration of the Vietnam Food Fair to be held from June 20-26 for the first time in all 66 stores of Giant supermarket chain, Director Yu told Vietnam News Agency’s Singapore-based reporter that the fair showcased distinctive Vietnamese products, including fresh fruits and vegetables as well as grocery imports such as “pho” noodles, rice papers and chili sauces, all preferred by home chefs.
The Giant Singapore Director said one of the best items (from Vietnam) is sweet potato, which is well sold in Singapore.
“We do not want to just start and stop from here. We want to continue our partnership with Vietnamese partners to grow this business,” he added.
Joe Tan, General Manager of Ban Choon Marketing Pte Ltd, said, “For this fair, we have brought in 40 containers of fruits and vegetables from Vietnam like pumpkin and sweet potato from Da Lat, and pomelo, lime and dragon fruit from the Mekong region.”
According to him, the fair is a success because customers love fruits and vegetables from Vietnam.
The Ban Choon Marketing Pte Ltd executive said the event will enhance Singapore’s limited selection of Vietnamese products with an extensive array of fruits, vegetables, dried foods, sauces and beverages; bring new flavours and greater variety to consumers as well as reinforce Singapore’s reputation as Asia’s culinary melting pot.
He said in the future, the company will bring in more Vietnamese fruit products such as cashew nut, coffee, chili sauce and tea and a wider range of Vietnamese vegetables into Singapore.
According to Nguyen Viet Chi, Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor to Singapore, rice, cashew nut, sea food, fruit and vegetables are of Vietnam’s potential export items and of Singapore’s need.
In the first five months of this year, two-way trade value between Vietnam and Singapore reached SGD8.2 billion with imports from Vietnam accounting for SGD1.53 billion, representing year-on-year increases of 22% and 23%, respectively.