Many opportunities from the Poland market

At the conference, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), said that in recent years, Vietnam's agricultural products and food industries are on a strong development track. Due to a series of Free Trade Agreements being signed and put into effect, Vietnam has many conditions to develop strongly in the field of agricultural products and food. Vietnam's supply capacity of agricultural and aquatic products, even in the midst of the pandemic, managed to have deep integration into the world economy.

Sharing the same view with Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Mr. Nguyen Hung, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Republic of Poland shared, Vietnamese agricultural products and foodstuffs are increasingly asserting their position in the international market and there are present in 185 countries and territories, in including many high-quality markets such as the US, Japan, the European Union (EU), Korea ...

While Vietnam has the capacity to supply agricultural and aquatic products, the Polish market has a demand for these products. According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in Poland, the country currently has a great demand for products that belong to Vietnam's export strengths such as rice, pangasius, basa fish, shrimp, and other products. mango, pineapple, passion fruit, coffee, and cashew. In which, rice products, especially ST24 and ST25 rice, are able to compete aggresively with Thai rice in terms of quality and price. Currently, the CIF prices of these Vietnamese rice products to European countries are 2-3% lower than Thai rice, even after including import tax.

“Vietnamese rice in the EU accounts for only 6%, while Thailand and Cambodia are much higher. Thus, Vietnam's quota of 80,000 tons to the EU under EVFTA commitments is a very small volume compared to the average import demand of 2.3 million tons/year of EU countries and the United Kingdom. Deeply processed cashew nut products are also considered to be a product that can be developed strongly in the Polish market

Along with that, concentrated juices of mango, pineapple, passion fruit are also in great demand in the Polish market simply because domestic enterprises do not have enough capacity to supply the market... According to experts, with the above consumption needs, the Polish market still has a lot of room for Vietnamese agricultural products and food. Along with large market demand, Vietnamese enterprises are also facing many advantages in exporting to Poland.

Mr. Wojciech Gerwel, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Vietnam, said that the business mentality of Vietnam and Poland has many similarities, and also having very good traditional relationship between the two nations. This is an important factor for businesses of the two countries to develop business cooperation.

Efforts to support businesses

According to the analysis of Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of Trade Promotion Department, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the EU (EVFTA) of which Poland is a member is a new generation FTA that brings many positive impacts. This contributes to many aspects of the Vietnamese economy, thereby contributing to the growth of Vietnam's imports and exports to the EU market in general and Poland in particular.

According to the commitments in the EVFTA, as soon as the Agreement comes into effect, the EU will eliminate import taxes on 85.6% of tariff lines, equivalent to 70.3% of Vietnam's export turnover to the EU. Then, after 7 years, the EU will eliminate import taxes on 99.2% of tariff lines, equivalent to 99.7% of Vietnam's export turnover. For the remaining 0.3% of Vietnam's exports, the EU grants Vietnam a tariff quota with an import tax within the quota of 0%. Thus, so far, the EU's commitment in the EVFTA is at the highest level of commitment that a partner has for Vietnam in the FTA agreements that had been ever signed.

Due to the difference in import tax of 10-15% compared to goods of the same type from competitor countries such as China and some other Asian countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, etc., Vietnamese goods entering the EU in general and Poland in particular are remarkably competitive. Currently, Vietnam is the 10th largest supplier of goods to the EU, accounting for about 1.8% of the market share. In order for trade between Vietnam and the EU as well as trade between Vietnam and Poland to promote benefits from the EVFTA, Vietnamese agencies and ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, have been carrying out many supporting activities. Such as supporting capacity building, awareness, and providing information to Vietnamese exporters about commitments in the agreement and market requirements. Thereby helping businesses meet EU standards on food hygiene and safety, technical barriers, etc.

Vietrade also strengthened trade promotion activities to connect businesses of the two sides, of which the "Vietnam - Poland online trade promotion and business cooperation conference" is an example. Many opinions at the conference also said that at this time, it is very difficult for trade activities and trade exchanges globally, including Vietnamese and Polish businesses, due to the Covid-19 epidemic. However, the use of digital platforms for trade promotion has brought opportunities for businesses of the two countries to meet, trade and seek business cooperation opportunities.

Experts expressed their belief that the need to export goods to each other's markets between Vietnamese and Polish businesses will make an important contribution to further strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries in the coming time. Immediately after the conference, nearly 30 Vietnamese enterprises had online transactions with more than 40 Polish enterprises, introducing a variety of agricultural and food products with potential for export to the EU of Vietnam.