Being flexible in accessing distribution systems, overcoming logistical difficulties and making good use of free trade agreements (FTA) are important factors for Vietnamese goods to better access the Eurasian market in the coming time, said insiders. 

According to Ta Hoang Linh, director of the Europe-America Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the large Eurasian region consisting of 28 countries, stretching from Eastern Europe to Central Asia, is a potential export market for Vietnam.

According to statistics of the General Department of Customs, two-way trade between Vietnam and the Eurasian region hit 12.7 billion USD in 2020, representing a year-on-year of 20.4 percent, accounting for 2.3 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover.

Despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the two-way trade in the first 11 months of 2021 reached 12.7 billion USD, 13.1 percent higher than that of the same period of 2020.

According to Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Russia Duong Hoang Minh, Russia is one of the main partners of Vietnam in the Eurasian market.

Russian people are more and more interested in Vietnamese food, he said, noting that dried fruits with good quality such as mango and custard apple have gradually make inroads into this market.

Notably, recently, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has removed 76 countries, including many of Vietnam's export competitors to Russia and the EAEU in general like China, Malaysia, Turkey, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, out of the list of those enjoying its tariff preferences.

Meanwhile, after 5 years of implementing the Vietnam-EAEU FTA, most of Vietnam's goods exported to the region are entitled to zero percent tax rate, Minh said, adding that this is an advantage for Vietnamese businesses to expand their exports, especially agro-forestry-aquaculture products, to Russia.

According to Natalia Zhynkina, Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine in Vietnam, her country needed to import 6.5 billion USD worth of agricultural products in 2021 but the import value from Vietnam reached only 900 million USD. This shows that there is huge potential for Vietnam to increase export to the market.

In order to fully tap incentives from FTAs and promote import-export growth with the Eurasian market in general and the Russian market in particular, Vietnamese enterprises should actively conduct market survey, join more trade fairs in Russia, and cooperate with Vietnamese firms operating in this country to introduce products in EAEU member countries, Minh said/.