Introducing Vietnamese goods in Singapore. (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)
Singapore aims to produce her own food to reduce reliance on imports by 2030, while reducing its dependence on agricultural products from China and Malaysia. Aiming to achieve the target, Singapore needs to promote cooperation in food and food production.
Ms. Tran Thu Quynh, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Singapore, said that Singapore is very interested in the farming coordination ability to export agricultural products and food to this island nation. Therefore, Vietnamese firms see many opportunities to export to the market.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese products exported to Singapore are increasingly diverse in types and designs. At the recent exhibition “Vietnam National Brands Week 2021 – Hybrid Expo on Halal and Processed Food Products”, Vietnamese goods received many good reviews from importers about the quality of food products and price.
Vietnam and Singapore are the only two countries in ASEAN that have signed free trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom. In particular, according to the EU - Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA), the EU side grants Singapore an export quota of 2,500 tons of food, while this figure for UKSFTA is 500 tons. So far, Singapore’s export volume to these markets has not met the above quotas.
Meanwhile, products made in Vietnam with Singapore’s trademark or products using raw materials from Vietnam manufactured for Singapore products are still eligible for tax exemption in the above markets. Therefore, Singaporean manufacturing enterprises pay much attention to the supply of Vietnamese goods, looking for partners to exploit the rules of origin, and the cumulative rules of origin of the agreements.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the import and export turnover of Vietnam and Singapore has grown continuously. While in 2016, Vietnam’s export turnover to Singapore reached 2.99 billion USD, in 2020, this figure increased to 4.01 billion USD./.