“This places Vietnam at the center of a long-term Polish effort to deepen the bilateral trade relationship in the near future,” Mariusz Boguszewski, Economic Counsellor and Head of Commercial & Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Poland in Hanoi, told VET.
With its population of more than 90 million and impressive growth over recent years, Vietnam has been recognized by the Polish Government as an increasingly important trade partner.
Indeed, while Vietnam is still a net exporter to Poland, with over $1.5 billion worth of Vietnamese goods imported in 2015, bilateral trade relations are evolving rapidly.
The shift in the trade balance is partly due to a growing Vietnamese demand for European-quality Polish products, according to Boguszewski.
In the first half of 2016 Vietnam became Poland’s No. 1 trade partner in ASEAN and seventh among non-European countries (after the US, China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea).
“Trade turnover with Vietnam is rising the fastest among all our Asian trade partners, according to 2014-2015 data,” he added.
Poland exported over $224 million worth of products to Vietnam in 2015, a significant increase from just $53 million in 2005. Exports include quality agro-food products, which represented almost 50 per cent of the total in 2015.
The export of livestock and products of animal origin stood at close to $80 million in 2015, almost double the figure in 2013. This trend is likely to continue with a growing Vietnamese demand for quality meat and processed food products.
In this respect Polish goods are competitively priced, traceable, and bound by strict EU sanitary and quality-control rules, making them the ideal choice for the food safety conscious Vietnamese consumer.
Similarly, the export of Polish plant products to Vietnam has also doubled in value since 2013, making this category of products likely to expand further to meet growing Vietnamese demand for European quality.
Vietnam also imports substantial amounts of machinery, electronics and chemicals from Poland. In this respect, the energy sector offers many opportunities for the Poland-Vietnam trade relationship.
“We traditionally cooperate in the mining and shipbuilding industries but there are new prospective sectors such as green technologies, education, and scientific research,” Boguszewski said. “It expresses our concerns about climate change, innovation and workforce quality.”
Growing Vietnamese demand for high-quality cosmetics and reliable pharmaceutical products also open up opportunities for bilateral trade growth.
Among others, the agro-food sector is making the greatest progress and currently represents one of the largest shares in bilateral trade turnover. From the Polish side it is nearly 50 per cent of exports and expanding.
A large Polish agro-food business mission will head to Ho Chi Minh City in August to attend the Vietfood & Beverage - Propack exhibition from August 10 to 13 and several accompanying events.
The mission is in two groups - one led by the Polish Government’s Agricultural Market Agency and the second by the National Council of Poultry Producers within a special program financed by the European Union and the Polish Government and dedicated to the promotion of poultry in Vietnam and three other markets in the world.
“I hope our efforts will be visible in the growing trade turnover and the growing popularity of high-quality Polish products in Vietnam,” Boguszewski said.
