Consultation workshops aim to boost exports to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia

Illustrative image. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade will host a consultation workshop in the southern province of Tây Ninh on June 21 for exporters interested in the markets of Laos and Thailand.

The hybrid event will also be held virtually on Zoom and livestreamed on Vietrade’s Facebook Fanpage.

A similar event will be held the next day to support Vietnamese businesses to export agricultural and food products to Cambodia.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Việt Nam’s trade with Laos reached US$708.2 million in the first five months of 2022, with Việt Nam’s exports to the neighbouring country declining 11.7 per cent year-on-year to $247.2 million.

Việt Nam mostly shipped to Laos iron and steel products, vehicles and parts, machinery and accessories, fertilisers, plastics, and vegetables.

Thailand has remained among Việt Nam’s top 10 trade partners for years. Data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) showed that the bilateral trade between the two countries increased seven-fold to $16.58 billion in 2020 from $2.31 billion in 2004, with annual growth averaging over 11 per cent.

In the first five months of this year, the two-way trade totalled $8.57 billion. Việt Nam’s exports to Thailand stood at $2.95 billion, up 15.6 per cent from the same period last year, while imports valued $5.26 billion, up 3.5 per cent year-on-year.

Thai consumers are mostly in favour of aquatic products, vegetables, cashew nuts, coffee, pepper and fruits from Việt Nam.

Việt Nam and Cambodia enjoyed an annual average growth of 17 per cent in bilateral trade from 2016 to 2020 to reach $5.32 billion in 2020.

Việt Nam’s exports to Cambodia were worth $4.8 billion in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 15.7 per cent from the previous year. The figure surged by 31.2 per cent in the first five months of this year to $2.6 billion.

Cambodia mainly imported iron and steel products, chemistry, plastics, machinery and electrical devices, processed food, confectionaries and cereal from Vietnam, while exporting to Vietnam rubber, cashew nuts and agricultural products. — VNS