Over the past years, the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership has seenin-depth and concrete development, in which economics is one of thebright spots in their bilateral ties.
Two-way trade hit 26 billion USD in 2013 and the two sides set a target of at least doubling their trade turnover by 2020.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung spoke with the VietnamEconomic News about measures to promote Vietnam-Japan trade:
*Could you briefly talk about the results of trade between Vietnam andJapan, one of Vietnam’s leading economic partners, in 2013?
Inrecent years, Japan has been one of the leading economic partners ofVietnam in a wide range of fields, from official development assistance(ODA) provision, investment and trade to labour and tourism. In 2013,despite the depreciation of the Japanese yen and numerous difficultiesfacing the two economies, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Japanreached about 26 billion USD. This was an impressive result.
However, I think there are still a lot of opportunities for Vietnam andJapan to boost bilateral relations between ministries, businesses andlocalities.I think that it won’t be very difficult to raise bilateraltrade to 30 billion USD or 50 billion USD in the next several years ifthe two countries take advantage of their good relations and make themost of opportunities.
*Although it has a high demand, theJapanese market has strict requirements on the quality of products. Whatdo you think of these requirements?
Japan has very strictrequirements in terms of the quality of imported goods.When exporting toJapan, Vietnam had faced problems relating to the quality of goods.Japan pays great attention to food hygiene and safety. However, if theymeet Japanese requirements, Vietnamese products can easily enter Japanand this will be a lucrative market for Vietnamese exports. Therefore,Vietnamese exporters must thoroughly examine the quality of productsbefore exporting to ensure that their products meet Japaneserequirements. In addition, they must maintain good connections withdistributors in Japan. These distributors will help promote Vietnamesegoods in the Japanese market.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Japanhas worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmentto seek measures to increase Vietnamese exports to Japan. On our side,Vietnam must improve the quality of export products. However, in somecases, we have to negotiate with Japanese partners so that they will notimpose too many regulations on Vietnamese exports.
*What measures will be taken in 2014 to promote Vietnamese exports to Japan?
To increase trade value between the two countries in 2014, we willconcentrate on several solutions. Firstly, the Vietnamese Embassy inJapan will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmentto send a business delegation to participate in a trade conference onagricultural, forest and aquatic products that will take place in Japanin 2014. The conference will offer Vietnamese businesses opportunitiesto seek partners to boost the export of agricultural, forest and aquaticproducts to Japan. Secondly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade willenhance relations with Japanese localities to intensify trade promotionactivities in Japan. Thirdly, it is necessary to provide Japaneseconsumers with more information about Vietnamese export products.Fourthly, we will boost trade promotion activities in localities of thetwo countries.
It is vital that Vietnamese exporters must keep aclose watch on market changes. The Vietnamese Embassy and the VietnamTrade Office in Japan will provide them with more information aboutproducts for which the Japanese market has a high demand so thatVietnamese exporters can present their products. I believe the twocountries will achieve better bilateral trade results in the comingtime.-VNA
Two-way trade hit 26 billion USD in 2013 and the two sides set a target of at least doubling their trade turnover by 2020.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung spoke with the VietnamEconomic News about measures to promote Vietnam-Japan trade:
*Could you briefly talk about the results of trade between Vietnam andJapan, one of Vietnam’s leading economic partners, in 2013?
Inrecent years, Japan has been one of the leading economic partners ofVietnam in a wide range of fields, from official development assistance(ODA) provision, investment and trade to labour and tourism. In 2013,despite the depreciation of the Japanese yen and numerous difficultiesfacing the two economies, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Japanreached about 26 billion USD. This was an impressive result.
However, I think there are still a lot of opportunities for Vietnam andJapan to boost bilateral relations between ministries, businesses andlocalities.I think that it won’t be very difficult to raise bilateraltrade to 30 billion USD or 50 billion USD in the next several years ifthe two countries take advantage of their good relations and make themost of opportunities.
*Although it has a high demand, theJapanese market has strict requirements on the quality of products. Whatdo you think of these requirements?
Japan has very strictrequirements in terms of the quality of imported goods.When exporting toJapan, Vietnam had faced problems relating to the quality of goods.Japan pays great attention to food hygiene and safety. However, if theymeet Japanese requirements, Vietnamese products can easily enter Japanand this will be a lucrative market for Vietnamese exports. Therefore,Vietnamese exporters must thoroughly examine the quality of productsbefore exporting to ensure that their products meet Japaneserequirements. In addition, they must maintain good connections withdistributors in Japan. These distributors will help promote Vietnamesegoods in the Japanese market.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Japanhas worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmentto seek measures to increase Vietnamese exports to Japan. On our side,Vietnam must improve the quality of export products. However, in somecases, we have to negotiate with Japanese partners so that they will notimpose too many regulations on Vietnamese exports.
*What measures will be taken in 2014 to promote Vietnamese exports to Japan?
To increase trade value between the two countries in 2014, we willconcentrate on several solutions. Firstly, the Vietnamese Embassy inJapan will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmentto send a business delegation to participate in a trade conference onagricultural, forest and aquatic products that will take place in Japanin 2014. The conference will offer Vietnamese businesses opportunitiesto seek partners to boost the export of agricultural, forest and aquaticproducts to Japan. Secondly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade willenhance relations with Japanese localities to intensify trade promotionactivities in Japan. Thirdly, it is necessary to provide Japaneseconsumers with more information about Vietnamese export products.Fourthly, we will boost trade promotion activities in localities of thetwo countries.
It is vital that Vietnamese exporters must keep aclose watch on market changes. The Vietnamese Embassy and the VietnamTrade Office in Japan will provide them with more information aboutproducts for which the Japanese market has a high demand so thatVietnamese exporters can present their products. I believe the twocountries will achieve better bilateral trade results in the comingtime.-VNA
