Vietnamese rice has many opportunities to enter the Swedish market. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has clearly helped promote trade between Việt Nam and Sweden, with Việt Nam’s export turnover to the country in January surging 99.94 per cent year-on-year, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Sweden.

With a technology-based knowledge economy and a comprehensive social welfare system, Sweden is one of the nations with the highest living standards in the world, the office said.

Its strengths in innovation, creativity, and high-technology have helped it export key products to Việt Nam such as machinery and spare parts for industry and telecommunications products.

Meanwhile, it imports agricultural products, footwear, textiles, and wooden products from Việt Nam. Notably, Vietnamese rice has many opportunities to enter the Swedish market, the office noted.

Figures from the General Department of Việt Nam Customs show that two-way trade hit about US$160.89 million in January, of which Việt Nam’s exports to Sweden were worth $132 million, up 99.94 per cent over January last year.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Sweden Phan Đăng Dương, the EU market and Sweden in particular have high demand for tropical and processed agricultural products.

Việt Nam holds great potential to expand its exports to Northern Europe, he said.

The EVFTA, which took effect from August 1, 2020, gradually removes barriers and opens the door to Vietnamese goods all over Europe.

Dương said Vietnamese enterprises have quickly taken advantage of preferential tariffs to export agricultural products to the bloc in general and Sweden in particular.

Vietnamese rice has been gradually dominating the market, with export turnover rising nearly 10-fold to over $1 million from $100,000 in previous years.

Other key products of Việt Nam, such as furniture, frozen tropical fruits, coconut milk, frozen vegetables, and textiles and footwear, also hold great prospects in Sweden.

In the opening days of 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak began and quickly spread around Northern Europe, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Sweden and Northern Europe paid particular attention to strengthening trade promotion activities and supporting Vietnamese exporters.

It developed online trade promotion support tools and a database of over 3,000 Northern European companies. It also published seven e-books in Vietnamese with market information on Northern Europe and two English e-books on Việt Nam’s fruits and vegetables and seafood products.

Representatives from the office also attended online seminars and fairs, to promote links between Vietnamese exporters and partners in Northern Europe.

Such measures proved effective, helping Vietnamese businesses access customers while helping Northern European businesses understand more about the EVFTA and the benefits it brings when importing goods from Việt Nam. — VNS