In the opening days of 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak began and quickly spreadaround Northern Europe, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Sweden and Northern Europepaid particular attention to strengthening trade promotion activities and supportingVietnamese exporters.
It developed online trade promotion support tools and a database of over 3,000 NorthernEuropean companies. It also published seven e-books in Vietnamese with market informationon Northern Europe and two English e-books on Vietnam’s fruit and vegetablesand seafood products.
Representatives from the office also attended online seminars and fairs, to promotelinks between Vietnamese exporters and partners in Northern Europe.
Such measures proved effective, helping Vietnamesebusinesses access customers while helping Northern European businesses understandmore about the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement as well as the benefits it bringswhen importing goods from Vietnam.
As a result, Vietnamese rice has been gradually replacingimports from Cambodia and Thailand on supermarket shelves in Sweden, accordingto Thuy.
Vietnam’s rice exports to Northern Europe rose to more than 1 million USD,contributing to lifting the country’s 2020 export turnover to the region to nearly2 billion USD, a 0.5 percent increase compared to 2019.
She said that, in the time to come, the office will continue to apply online tradepromotion activities to support domestic exporters.
Attention will be given to considering the possibility of bringing Vietnamese goodsinto distribution channels in Northern Europe, especially textiles, seafood, foodand furniture, she noted.
She promised that the office will continue to act as a bridge connectingoverseas Vietnamese companies and domestic firms, helping them import high-qualityVietnamese commodities that meet the strict requirements of partners, thus increasingthe presence of Vietnamese products in Northern Europe./.