At the press briefing to introduce the “Tasteful Europe – Tradition and Quality” programme in HCM City on August 8. — Photo courtesy of Anh Lê

HCM CITY — Việt Nam has emerged as a potential market for Polish food and agricultural products so the European country plans to expand exports to the Southeast Asia country, according to the Polish Export Support Department.

Speaking at a press conference to introduce the programme “Tasteful Europe – Tradition and Quality” in HCM City on August 8, Piotr Kondraciuk, the department’s director, said Polish businesses are looking for partners to distribute its beef in the Vietnamese market after successful exports of chicken, pork, apples and beverages.

Polish businesses are finalising procedures to export beef to Việt Nam and Polish beef is expected to be available in the Vietnamese market by the end of this year, he said.

Currently, 85 per cent of its beef production is exported, including to fastidious markets such as Japan, he said, expressing his hope that Vietnamese consumers will welcome Polish beef due to its quality and competitive prices.

Piotr Harasimowicz, chief representative officer of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in HCM City, said Việt Nam and Poland are important partners of each other, with bilateral trade reaching over US$2.8 billion last year, up 7 per cent over 2022.

Export of Polish food products to Việt Nam has seen steady growth in recent years, he said.

Kondraciuk said Poland’s exports to Việt Nam were worth 540 million euros (US$590 million) last year, a year-on-year increase of 16 per cent. Of which, exports of pork and poultry products rose by 43 per cent to 143 million euros.

"This is the seventh time we have returned to Việt Nam to introduce Polish food and agricultural products and were surprised to see more pork and chicken appearing in stores," he said.

Bozena Wroblewska, president of the Polish Chamber of Commerce Promotion Centre, highlighted that many Polish products are currently available in Việt Nam, Poland wants to bring more diverse products to the Vietnamese market and the Tasteful Europe – Tradition and Quality programme is one of the key activities that enable it to realise its target.

Food products from Poland and Europe in general always comply with international quality and high production standards, she said.

According to Harasimowicz, many Polish food products imported into the Vietnamese market still go through intermediary channels, so Poland wants to open up direct import channels.

Vietnamese people have increasingly higher incomes, pay more attention to health issues, and are interested in high-quality products and imported goods. This is an opportunity for food products that meet global standards to enter the Vietnamese market, said Tomasz Parzybut, Chief Executive Officer of the the Association of Butchers and Meat Producers of the Republic of Poland .

Polish enterprises hope to seize this opportunity and exploit favourable conditions to promote their products in Việt Nam, he said.

The annual “Tasteful Europe – Tradition and Quality” programme aims to support the Polish business community operating in the fields of agriculture and food & beverage (F&B) to find new partners and develop international markets. It is also part of long-term efforts to promote European food products to Việt Nam.

This year, the programme focused on fresh/chilled/frozen beef and pork, fresh and processed apples, targeting to bring high-quality European products at reasonable prices to the Vietnamese market. — VNS