Illustrative image (Source: VNA)The country is now Vietnam’s biggest trade partner inAfrica with annual two-way trade exceeding 1.2 billion USD between 2019 and2021, according to Pham Thanh Hai, First Secretary at the Vietnam Trade Officein South Africa.
It mainly imports aquatic products fromVietnam, and the demand is expected to grow in the time ahead, the officialsaid, noting that supermarkets there serve not only local residents but alsothose from neighbouring countries of South Africa.
However, due to the long geographical distance, manyVietnamese enterprises have yet to pay attention to the market. Besides, they havealso faced limited access to market information.
Given this, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency(VIETRADE) has organised many consulting sessions on the Middle East andAfrica, providing information about the market, import-export rules and otherissues for domestic firms.
At a recent Vietnam-Durban Business Forum 2022, VietnameseAmbassador to South Africa Hoang Van Loi said Vietnamese businesses areincreasingly interested in the market and want to explore investmentopportunities to utilise free trade agreements between South Africa and majormarkets.
Bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and SouthAfrica topped 1 billion USD in the first nine months and is expected to reach1.3 billion USD this year./.
VNA
