A ship docks at Hai Phong Port.

Conquering global markets

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), in 2024, the garment sector’s export revenue was estimated at 44 billion USD, up 11.26% compared to 2023, while imports reached approximately 25 billion USD, up 14.79%, resulting in a trade surplus of 19 billion USD, up 6.93% from a year earlier.

Pham Quang Anh, Director of Dony Garment Company, assessed that besides positive developments in foreign markets, the core factor helping businesses achieve impressive growth was their active expansion into new markets. Specifically, over 20% of its growth in 2024 came from established markets such as the US, the Middle East and the domestic market. The remainder came from newly explored markets like Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Russia.

Similar to the textile industry, many companies in other sectors have benefited from export market diversification.

According to the latest figures released by the General Statistics Office, Vietnam’s total import-export turnover in 2024 reached 786.29 billion USD, up 15.4% compared to the previous year, with exports up 14.3% and imports up 16.7%. The trade surplus was 24.77 billion USD. This is a very impressive result in Vietnam’s international trade activities over the past year.

Notably, alongside traditional markets, businesses have also boosted exports to new markets. Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), stated that besides key items like durian and dragon fruit, passion fruit has been a bright spot in 2024, exported not only to the key Chinese market but also showing strong export growth to the EU - a very demanding market.

Currently, Vietnamese passion fruit accounts for nearly one-third of export turnover to the EU, mainly as frozen processed products. Fresh coconut and processed coconut exports have also achieved high results in the US market. This is good news for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables.

Luong Hoang Thai, Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stated that while Vietnam has recently tapped into traditional markets quite effectively, there is also a risk that if these markets do not enter a high development phase and Vietnam depends too heavily on them, there could be certain risks in achieving the set growth targets. Therefore, one of the important tasks is to explore and open new markets, especially in places with development potential in the coming period.

Consequently, in 2024, two new free trade agreements were signed in the Middle East region. Specifically, the agreement between Vietnam and the UAE - a regional hub with great potential in capital, logistics services and transshipment ports, not only in the Middle East and North Africa but also connected with India and many other locations. Therefore, Vietnam is determined to establish connections with this “gateway” to take advantage of the potential linkages between the two economies.

Next, the trade pact with Israel has also been implemented after a long period of negotiations and preparation. In this context, science and technology are among the crucial drivers for creating high and long-term economic growth. Israel is considered one of the success stories in terms of start-ups and innovation, with many sources of technological expertise from which Vietnam can learn. Therefore, although this is a relatively small market in terms of exports, it is also a very good market if connections can be established with this economy.

Passion fruit is one of Vietnam's main agricultural exports.

Continuing to open new markets

According to Thai, Vietnam has recently maintained good relationships with major partners. In some sectors with future development potential, such as electronics manufacturing and semiconductors, Vietnam is experiencing relatively large growth.

However, there are still regions in the world with great market potential where Vietnamese goods have limited presence. For instance, in Latin America, there are very large economies like Brazil and many other economies with high consumption and per capita income, such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. In these markets, Vietnam previously had some free trade agreements, but the number was limited. Therefore, initial implementation has shown that Vietnam’s growth potential in the Latin American market is very substantial.

For example, since Vietnam joined the CPTPP, growth to Mexico has consistently been above 20% with significant room for further growth. Therefore, through diplomatic visits by Party, Government and State leaders to this region, Vietnam has established connections and put forward proposals to study and develop trade agreements with the Mercosur bloc (including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay). When connections are established with these partners through trade pacts, Vietnam’s export turnover is expected to continue improving in the coming period.

From the business perspective, Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Vice Chairwoman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, shared that in the coming period, the sector will continue focusing on exports to existing and less demanding markets like Africa and Asia to secure suitable customer bases and increase revenue. Subsequently, they will gradually apply higher standards such as green production and green products to conquer more demanding markets like Japan, Europe and the US.

Businesses are also approaching major e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and Amazon to open additional distribution channels. Currently, some large enterprises have secured contracts until mid-2025. Market diversification is a way for businesses to maintain export turnover while reducing risks in foreign trade activities.