30 Japanese enterprises seek opportunities to import Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products

The Vietnam Food Expo 2022 will be held at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (Ho Chi Minh City) from November 16 to 19, 2022.

Large export space

This is the largest international trade promotion event in the field of food industry, agricultural and aquatic products in Vietnam, chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop the domestic market and boost exports.

Vietnam Food Expo 2022 has a scale of over 500 booths of nearly 400 enterprises from 30 provinces of Vietnam and nearly 20 countries and territories around the world.

After two years of being held online due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam Food Expo 2022 is expected to attract a large number of domestic and international visitors and business delegations. 

Mr. Ta Duc Minh, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Japan, assessed that Japan is a market with great consumption power for agricultural products, aquatic products and food imported from abroad.

Japan imports a lot of fish and products made from fish, shrimp, eel, meat and meat products, soybeans, cereal products, fresh and processed vegetable and fruit, coffee, etc. Meanwhile, Vietnam has strengths in these products and good supply capacity for the Japanese market. 

Therefore, the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan actively disseminated information through many channels to interested Japanese businesses and formed a business delegation of 30 Japanese enterprises to attend the Vietnam Food Expo 2022.

Vietnamese agricultural products is very popular in the Japanese market. 

According to statistics of Vietnam Customs, the export of agricultural and aquatic products to Japan in the first 9 months of 2022 reached a turnover of 1.68 billion USD, up 28.1% over the same period in 2021.  Main exported products are: aquatic products (reaching USD 1.27 billion, up 33%); coffee (reached 215.5 million USD, up 27.7%); vegetables and fruits (reaching 127.9 million USD, up 6.3%); cashew nuts (reached 37.2 million USD, down 15.4%); pepper (reached 15.2 million USD, up 116%).

In addition, the import and export of agricultural and aquatic products between Vietnam and Japan also benefit from deep tariff reduction as well as new regulation of origin in the  FTA that the two countries are members of such as CPTPP or RCEP.

In these FTAs, Japan commits to completely eliminate tariffs for the vast majority of agricultural and aquatic products imported from Vietnam. From there, it brings great opportunities in the agricultural and aquatic products industry - a strong export field of Vietnam that has always faced high protection from Japan.

Mr. Minh also emphasized that Japanese consumers are already familiar with the terms Anzen and Anshin, which mean "Safety" and "Assurance" in using all agricultural and aquatic products, even with imported products.

Especially recently with the fluctuating exchange rate and domestic food prices becoming more expensive, Japanese consumers tend to prefer products with reasonable prices but still ensure quality. 

Vietnam Food Expo 2022 will boost export of agricultural and aquatic products. 

Many Japanese supermarkets also tend to import good quality agricultural and aquatic products with reasonable prices from Vietnam such as pangasius, chicken, shrimp, mango, banana, dragon fruit and other frozen products. 

Besides, agricultural and aquatic products, food imported from Vietnam have also been well consumed in recent years to serve the consumption demand of the increasing number of Vietnamese living, studying and working in Japan (with nearly 500,000 people in 2021, ranking 2nd in the number of foreigners in Japan).

Therefore, Vietnam’s agricultural, aquatic and food products will still have a lot of potential to export, penetrate and expand the market share in the Japanese market. 

Opportunity at hand 

Responding to the campaigns "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods", the project "Mobilizing overseas Vietnamese to participate in introducing, consuming and developing distribution channels of Vietnamese goods in the 2020-2024 period". 

The campaign promotes cooperation with the Vietnam Business Association in Japan, businesses of overseas Vietnamese or Japanese enterprises with Vietnamese leaders in importing prestigious and high quality products from Vietnam to serve the Vietnamese community in Japan or to sell in supermarkets and large distribution chains of Japan.

The Japanese business delegation includes many large enterprises specializing in importing and distributing Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products in Japan such as Lieutou, Betohasu, Senkyu, Ribeto Shoji, JV Solutions together with enterprise members of the Vietnam Business Association in Japan including Hoang Duc JSC, Daisei, JVI, Motiti Trading, Japan Apple LLC and many other Japanese enterprises that are looking for a suitable Vietnamese products and partners. 

In addition to visiting the booths and products displayed at the exhibition, the Japanese business delegation also had a meeting with leaders of the VIETRADE, visited and surveyed a number of food processing factories.

At the same time, they will participate in forums and trade programs with Vietnamese enterprises to seek business cooperation opportunities, and to find stable suppliers of high quality Vietnamese products as well as potential exchange to set up a sales agent in Vietnam.

“This is a very good opportunity for not only Vietnamese businesses that have experience in exporting to Japan, but also for businesses wishing to establish new business relationships with Japanese partners. With their knowledge and experience, Japanese enterprises will be able to guide the processes and procedures for importing goods in accordance with the regulations of the Japanese management agencies, "said Mr.Minh.

Through this promotion, Mr. Minh hopes that Vietnam's agricultural, aquatic products and food products companies will continue to promote exports, penetrate markets and expand market share. The high-quality Vietnamese product brand will be increasingly welcomed in Japan, thereby contributing to increasing import and export turnover between the two countries as well as promoting Vietnamese culinary culture further to the Japanese.

Compiled by Thuy Linh