Russia and Ukraine Markets: New Export Opportunities

Recently, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade hosted a seminar entitled “Russia – Ukraine Markets – New Export Opportunities”. This was an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to update themselves with the latest information about the markets, trade promotion programmes, experiences and issues related to foreign trade and business transactions with Russia and Ukraine, to guide export activities in the future. Delivering a speech to the seminar, Vietrade Deputy Director Le Hoang Oanh said Russia, a vast market with over 143 million consumers, has a broad demand for imported goods. However, export potential to this traditional market has not been tapped because Vietnamese enterprises lack interest because of information shortage. Ukraine, a neighbour of Russia, is an emerging market with a rapidly growing purchasing power which is catching the special attention of many Vietnamese exporters. According to Vietnamese customs data, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Russia exceeded US$1 billion in the first five months of 2013, of which US$718.9 million belonged to Vietnam and US$325.2 million belonged to Russia. Key exports to Russia included coffee, tea, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, meat and seafood. On investment, Russian invested US$924 million in 83 projects in Vietnam as of May 2013 and Vietnam pumped US$1.7 billion into 16 projects in Russia. In 2012, the bilateral trade revenue between Vietnam and Ukraine reached US$313 million, and the former bagged US$220 million. A Ukrainian Embassy official in Vietnam hoped the two-way trade turnover would top… [Read full story]