While Germany is already the most important market in the European Union
for Vietnamese exports, there's still huge potential for further
increasing exports to Germany, said Do Thang Hai, head of the Ministry
of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Trade Promotion Department.
Statistics from the ministry showed that last year export turnover to
Germany reached 3.35 billion USD, 41 percent higher than 2010.
However, Hai said Vietnamese goods have not fully exploited their
potential in the market despite seeing continuous growth in exports to
Germany .
He said Vietnamese exports to Germany mainly
included shoes, garments and textiles, coffee beans, wooden furniture,
seafood and leather goods, while Vietnam imported machinery,
automobiles, pharmaceuticals and chemicals from Germany.
Figures from the HCM City Trade Promotion and Investment Centre showed
that Germany accounted for 19 percent of Vietnamese exports to the EU
last year, and was Vietnam 's biggest trade partner in the area.
Accordingly, Vietnam ranked 49th out of 147 countries that exported to
Germany, 55th out of 144 countries to import German products and 47th
out of 144 trade partners based on bilateral trade turnover.
Thomas Hundt, head of the German Trade and Investment Organisation in
Vietnam , said businesses should pay more attention to ensuring goods
exported to the EU meet a raft of standards.
He said
regulations on goods exported to Germany have been tightened to
ensure quality, hygiene and corporate social responsibilities.
MoIT plans to organise more trade delegations to Germany to promote
Vietnamese firms, while Vietnamese company VietHaus (SASCO) has built a
commercial centre in Germany that will support Vietnamese firms doing
business in Germany .
SASCO's deputy director Doan Thi
Mai Huong said VietHaus willlp enterprises to expand their businesses in
the German market with the minimum of cost.
"The centre,
which is scheduled to become operational in June, will showcase
Vietnamese goods and provide information on German consumer habits,"
Huong said.
She said some Vietnamese goods including beer
and coffee along with tourism services, have already been promoted at
the centre.
"We will organise activities to introduce
Vietnamese coffee next month on the occasion of the biggest fair in
Berlin ," she said.
The ministry in co-operation with
Metro Cash&Carry Group and the Vietnam Trade Counselor will organise
Vietnamese Week in Germany from June 6-16 to introduce famous
Vietnamese brandnames which meet EU standards, including pomelo fruit,
Hoa Loc mangoes, Tien Giang papayas, shrimp, basa fish and Trung Nguyen
coffee.
Germany has 161 projects in Vietnam with
total registered capital of 824 million USD, ranking 22 out of 91
countries and territories investing here.
In HCM City alone, there are 61 German-invested projects with total investment of 345 million USD.
Vietnam has 10 projects in Germany with total registered capital of 25 million USD. /.
