Illustrative image. (Photo: tapchicongthuong.vn)
Nguyen Nam Hai, vice president of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said the country remains the second largest exporter of the drink in the world, second only to Brazil, accounting for 8.3 percent of the global market share.
Coffee is one of the six agricultural products that bring back over 3 billion USD per year for Vietnam. It is now present in more than 80 countries and territories, mainly the European Union (EU), the US, Russia, Japan, and the UK.
Yet, the value of coffee is not high as most of it is exported raw.
According to Vicofa, the average price for a tonne of processed coffee is nearly 3,600 USD while that of coffee beans is only about 2,400 USD.
To improve the situation, enterprises have promoted processing instead of exporting coffee beans. Currently, roasted and instant coffee is accounting for 9.1 percent of the total exports, creating opportunities for the industry as Vietnam is penetrating deeper into the international market through free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
The EU is Vietnam’s largest coffee market, accounting for 40 percent of the country's total volume and 38 percent of the total value. It is followed by the Association of Southeast Asia Nations with 13 percent. Over the past five years, the export value to the EU has reached between 1.2 billion - 1.4 billion USD per year. Vietnamese coffee also accounts for 30 percent of the total coffee import of China- the world’s most populous market.
For the next 10 years, Vicofa aims to raise coffee export turnover to between 5 and 6 billion USD, Hai said, adding that the export of processed will be increased for a higher added value.
According to Vicofa, the country has 97 coffee processing establishments with a total designed capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.
Contest launched to promote Vietnam’s traditional Lunar New Year
Illustrative image (Photo: vietnamnet.vn)
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has launched a contest themed “Yeu tet que nha – Yeu ban sac Viet” to popularise inspirational stories as the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival is approaching, reported Vietnam News Agency.
The contest offers a chance for Vietnamese people to share memorable moments, cultural identities and traditional customs of localities across the country during the Tet festival.
It is expected to contribute to introducing and disseminating Vietnam’s traditional Lunar New Year to the domestic and international communities.
Vietnamese citizens aged 18 and above are encouraged to join the contest. The organising board will present three first prizes worth 10 million VND (439 USD) each, five second prizes worth 5 million VND each, 10 third prizes worth 2 million VND each. and 15 consolation prizes worth 1 million VND each.
UK wooden furniture imports from Vietnam soar by 35.7%
With the UK’s imports of wooden furniture from the Vietnamese market surging by 35.7% to reach 303.7 million USD during the past 10 months of 2021, local firms can enjoy huge opportunities to promote the export of products to the UK market, reported VOV News.
Photo for illustration. (Source: VOV)
According to statistics compiled by the International Trade Center (ITC), the UK’s wooden furniture imports in the 2016 to 2020 period reached 5.17 billion USD per year, with an average annual growth of 2.7%.
During the reviewed period, the UK's import value of the product edged up by 39.3% to reach 4.03 billion USD compared to the same period from last year, despite the complicated developments linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UK mainly imported living room and dining room furniture, as well as wooden frame chairs and kitchen furniture.
These appear to be positive signs which have opened up greater export prospects for Vietnamese firms to the demanding market moving forward.
Most notably, the UK’s wooden furniture import value from the nation accounts for only small proportion of the country’s total imports, which has also created opportunities for Vietnamese products to make further inroads into this market.
Moreover, the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU has posed a number of challenges in terms of trade ties between the UK and the bloc, resulting in British businesses actively seeking new supply sources and markets, including Vietnam.
Vietnam’s seafood sector maintains exports to key markets
Processing seafood for export at Hai Nam Corporation in Binh Thuan Province (Photo: nhandan.com.vn)
Vietnam’s seafood sector in 2021 was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but, with the bold efforts of farmers, producers and relevant agencies, the sector still met its export target, especially in maintaining exports to key markets, reported Nhan Dan News.
For aquaculture, the supply of juveniles, feed and medicine was disrupted; enterprises found it hard to purchase raw products due to social distancing measures while costs rose sharply due to higher costs of transport and coronavirus testing.
In addition, importing countries increased their requirements on quality, quarantine, fishing, processing, packaging, and customs procedures, including China and the US, which imposed a great number of non-tariff measures on Vietnamese seafood.
Furthermore, the measure of “three on-sites” was highly impractical to seafood processors. In August 2021, only about 30-40% of seafood companies in the southern region were operating while another 30-40% had to suspend their operations, especially in Tien Giang, Can Tho, Hau Giang and Dong Thap.
An estimate by VASEP, which represents seafood producers and exporters, showed that only 30-40% of seafood enterprises were capable of recovering in the post-distancing period at that time. As a result, seafood exports in August reached only 595.3 million USD, down 30.3% from the previous month and 26.9% year-on-year.
But growth picked up in the final two months of 2021, helping the sector’s full-year export revenue reach 8.89 billion USD, up 5.7% compared to 2020 and equivalent to 104.6% of the target. According to Tran Cong Thanh, Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), the seafood sector was able to maintain its exports and markets for the following reasons:
First of all, the government introduced many synchronous and prompt policies to address the difficulties facing enterprises such as prioritising vaccination for seafood workers and traders so as to stabilise the supply, processing and export chain. Notably Resolution 128 on adapting to COVID-19 in a safe and flexible manner has basically addressed many difficulties in the production and export of seafood companies.
Second is the effort and dynamism of enterprises in adapting to the new situation so as to not cause disruptions to the production chain. Factories strictly complied with the government’s regulations and guidelines and proactively formulated plans to live safely with the pandemic. Enterprise owners proactively proposed vaccinating seafood workers and allowing workers already inoculated with at least one dose to return to work, helping factories soon restore their production capacity.
Thirdly, the signed free trade agreements created many opportunities for Vietnamese seafood to increase its market shares in the US and the EU, particularly in Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, which are major seafood importers. The reopening of Vietnam’s main seafood importers and rising global demand for seafood, especially in the final months of 2021, enabled Vietnam’s seafood sector to accelerate and fulfil its full-year target.
According to IPSARD, Vietnam is taking advantage of tariff preferences effectively to enhance Vietnam’s competitiveness in major markets and look for new potential market. For markets such as the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the tariffs on Vietnamese seafood are at around 0-5.2%, while seafood from competitors India and China is subject to tariffs of 0-10.7% and 0-10.8%, respectively. Such figures show that Vietnam’s seafood has an edge over competitors in terms of tariffs in major markets of the world.
Sapa welcomes nearly 20,000 visitors during New Year holidays
On top of the Fansipan Mountain in Lao Cai (Photo: VNA)
Sapa township – a famous tourist destination in the northern province of Lao Cai welcomed 17,346 visitors during the three-day solar New Year holiday (January 1-3), Vietnam News Agency quoted saying of head of the Culture-Information Office of the township Hoang Thi Vuong.
Vuong said that revenue from tourism activities during the holidays reached 46 billion VND (2.01 million USD), up over 7.8 billion VND (341,281 USD) compared to the Christmas holidays (December 24-26).
Although the number of tourists was equivalent to only 30 percent of that in the same time last year, the results showed signs of recovery of Sapa tourism after a tough year due to impacts of COVID-19, she said.
As part of efforts to promote the "Lao Cai-Safe Destination” trademark, local authorities and businesses have applied effective measures to ensure epidemic and transport safety, environmental sanitation and food safety for tourists.
Alongside, local travel firms have offered various promotion programmes to attract tourists. On average, Sapa welcomed about 4,000 - 5,000 visitors each day, with many hotels fully booked during weekends.
Sapa has long been among the country’s leading destinations. Of note, young people accounted for more than 70 percent of tourist arrivals to the town last year./.