Middle East, Africa trade promoted

However, Vietnam still faces difficulties in making the most of the potential of this market. The problem was addressed at a seminar held in Hanoi on Thursday by the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

With the area of more than 36 million square kilometres and the population of nearly 1.5 billion people, the Middle Eastern and African region has high import demand for many Vietnamese products such as agricultural products, consumer products, building materials and machinery.

However, Vietnamese enterprises still face challenges when operating in the Middle Eastern and African region due to tariffs or payment problems.

"Vietnamese enterprises want to receive payment for their exports quickly, they prefer letters of credit and bank transfers. However, African counterparts prefer deferred payments. So it’s difficult for Vietnamese companies. Sometimes they can’t even agree on the price", said Le Thanh Ha - Ke Go Co., Ltd.

"Some countries have their own standards for food products. The registration of Vietnamese exports for these standards depends on native importers themselves. It is hard for Vietnamese enterprises to give them hundreds of thousands of US dollars for the registration of a product certificate", said Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga - Top Food Co., Ltd.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has ordered 5 commercial affairs in Africa and 6 in the Middle East to assist Vietnamese enterprises.

"Commercial affairs help Vietnamese enterprises inspect trade partners and access business opportunities. This is the most direct way to assist Vietnamese enterprises", said Ngo Khai Hoan - Deputy Head of Department of Africa, Western and South Asia Markets, Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The department will hold three trade promotional campaigns until the year-end, including promoting rice sales to Ghana, trade promotion in Nigeria and Ghana, and promotion of investment in Kenya and Cameroon.