Singapore's market is considered to have a huge potential for Vietnamese enterprises. – Photo vtv.vn

HCM CITY – Singapore's market is considered to have a huge potential for Vietnamese enterprises, with advantages such as cultural similarities, consumption trends suited to Vietnamese goods, low costs for market researching, and easy export transaction procedures, experts have said.

Leon Cai, regional director at Enterprise Singapore, said:  “I often fly between Singapore and HCM City, and I see many Singaporeans buy Vietnamese goods to bring back as a gift such as fresh fruits in Đà Lạt or fish sources. And Vietnamese businesses also bring back Singapore goods such as snacks to Việt Nam.”

Cai spoke at a conference on the export promotion of Vietnamese goods to Singapore held yesterday in HCM City.

Phạm Thiết Hòa, director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC), said that Singapore was a great market for Việt Nam's agricultural products and processed foods where they could get access to top restaurant, hotel and resort chains as well as retailer outlets.

Singaporean consumers are particularly fond of Vietnamese fresh produce and processed foods such as coffee, cashew nuts, mango and dragon fruit, according to Trần Minh Tiến, an economist.

"The prices of Vietnamese goods are very competitive compared to goods imported from countries outside ASEAN because ASEAN members have free trade agreements with each other,” he said. "But we've faced fierce competition from companies in the region, which requires Vietnamese enterprises to improve product quality and reduce costs to improve competitiveness.”

Besides the competition, Vietnamese manufacturers still must make efforts to establish Vietnamese brands in the global market and invest more in product packaging and labelling, he said. “Foreign buyers require standardisation and uniformity in quality, weight and specifications,” he said.

Multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements are creating an excellent opportunity for Vietnamese goods to penetrate into the world market, he said.

Việt Nam is one of Singapore’s top 15 trading partners. In 2018, Việt Nam's total exports to this market reached US$3.46 billion, up 1.02 per cent compared with 2017.

The export growth, though modest, has been continuous and steady over many years, reflecting Singapore's huge demand for various types of imports, even in the context of trade tensions and global economic slowdown. – VNS