Promoting trade and investment in the Middle East market

$70 billion market

During a working visit to the UAE, on the afternoon of February 16, the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a forum on trade promotion and investment attraction in the agricultural sector within the framework of the Gulfood Fair and visited Vietnamese booths at the fair. On February 17, the delegation worked with the Vice President of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce; visited and worked with Lu Lu Multinational Group.

On February 18, in Dubai, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam cut the ribbon to open the Vietnam Agricultural Products Week at the Vietnam Exhibition Gallery and participated in introducing guests at the exhibition to try tea, coffee and different types of dried nuts, specialty dried fruits. At the exhibition, the Deputy Minister had a bilateral meeting with the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Welfare.

The visit of the Deputy Minister, besides organizing a trade promotion forum and calling for investment in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fishery, also aims to interact with potential importers and investors at the Gulfood Dubai International Food and Beverage 2022 Fair (February 13-17). Leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also wanted to listen to opinions from the UAE, to promote trade and investment cooperation in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fishery and remove market barriers.

Identifying this as an opportunity for Vietnamese agricultural businesses to approach and find partners to bring Vietnamese agricultural products to the Middle East market, especially Halal products, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam directed Relevant agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to reinforce their search for solutions to connect businesses between the two countries to enhance trade in agricultural products.

The main achievements of Vietnam's agriculture in recent years, the goals of sustainable agricultural development by category were also presented at the meeting.

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam's visit is part of the Strategy for Market Development and Trade Promotion in the first quarter of 2022 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Accordingly, the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries are emerging as potential export markets for Vietnam's agricultural and aquatic products, with a large population (about 250 million people) and a high standard of living.

On the other hand, due to the unfavorable natural and soil conditions for agricultural development, most countries in the Middle East currently cannot meet the food needs of the people.

Statistics show that these countries have to import about 80% of food items, equivalent to about 40 billion USD/year. By 2035, the total import value of food and foodstuffs of Middle Eastern countries is expected to increase to 70 billion USD/year.

Import items of the Middle East countries include: cereals, meat and meat products, vegetables and fruits, seafood, coffee, tea, and dairy products - all of which are Vietnam's strength. Another advantage when exporting to the Middle East is the import tax rate of only 0-5% for goods imported from outside the bloc.

"Through this series of events, we hope that management agencies and businesses between Vietnam and the UAE can connect and bond closely, forming a sustainable link," said Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam.

Committed to support in all aspects

Speaking at the Forum on Trade Promotion and Investment in Vietnam's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on February 16, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said that Vietnam's agriculture has been affected by Covid-19 for over two years, but has always been the backbone of the economy, ensuring the supply of food and essential goods for domestic consumption and export.

"Vietnam is considered as one of the countries with good control over the Covid-19 pandemic, which has created an advantage to help businesses produce and supply agricultural products not only for the Vietnamese market but also for the world," said Mr. Nam.

At the forum, the Deputy Minister introduced a number of achievements by Vietnam's agricultural sector in 2021 such as: the value of the entire agricultural sector is estimated to increase by 2.9%; export turnover reached 48.6 billion USD; maintaining 10 groups of products with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, of which 6 items have a turnover of over 3 billion USD (wood and wood products, shrimp, vegetables, cashew nuts, rice, rubber); industry trade surplus of 6.44 billion USD.

In addition to impressive growth, Vietnam's agricultural sector also cooperates extensively with the international community. According to the Deputy Minister, Vietnamese agricultural products are increasingly asserting their position by quality, meeting requirements of fastidious markets. Besides, the force of export businesses and associations has also become more experienced, and the level of negotiation is increasingly professional.

Commenting that global trade as well as trade in agricultural products have seen positive recovery steps to better serve the demand for food around the world, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam expressed hope that forum participants will get an overall picture of Vietnam's agriculture.

"We hope you can see the opportunities when participating in investment and commercial cooperation with Vietnamese businesses, with the same goal of ensuring food and drinks supply meet the world's needs," he said.

Continuing to promote agricultural trade and call for investment in the Middle East market, according to Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam, is essential, especially in the current Covid-19 context. Therefore, he is committed to providing all information to create favorable conditions for partners to cooperate with Vietnam in agricultural product trade and investment.

Proposal to make Dubai a transit point

On February 17, the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development worked with the Vietnamese Embassy in Dubai. Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam expressed his desire to promote cooperation in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fishery in order to open up the UAE market, and at the same time offer a variety of products in types and designs, meeting the demand for Halal products in this country.

"It is proposed to promote the use of Dubai as a transit place to bring Vietnamese agricultural products to the Middle East market through the African market," said Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam.

Through working sessions, the UAE is especially interested in policies and opportunities when investing in Vietnam. In addition, Middle Eastern businesses are also interested in Vietnam's labor resources in the future, about human training policies, and about the ability to meet high-quality labor sources for FDI businesses, especially development policies of Vietnam's agricultural sector when formulating the Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in the 2021-2030 period.

Some of Vietnam's strong agricultural products such as coffee, rice, fresh fruit, aquatic products, fingerlings, ....as well as transportation and quality assurance when exporting to the Middle East market are also topics of discussion.

On February 18, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam attended the Expo 2022 Dubai event and cut the ribbon to open the Vietnam Agricultural Products Week at the Vietnam Exhibition Gallery within the framework of Expo 2022 Dubai. Leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assessed that this is a place to introduce, promote and connect the culture, trade and economy of countries around the world. At the same time, the Deputy Minister introduced the potential of Vietnam's agricultural products that have been highly ranked in the world.

At the event, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam invited leaders of UAE management agencies, as well as corporations and businesses to arrange time to visit Vietnam, and attend upcoming major events of the agricultural industry such as: Forum on logistics in the Mekong Delta, Forum on connecting trade and investment in agricultural products in Vietnam...