Vietnam's exports struggle to enter ASEAN market

For many years now Vietnam’s trade deficit with other regional countries has been high and, after th…

For many years now Vietnam’s trade deficit with other regional countries has been high and, after the AEC (ASEAN economic community) formed in late 2015, it increased further. According to GSO, Vietnam’s trade deficit with the ASEAN countries reached $4.6 billion in the first nine months of the year.

A report from the General Department of Customs (GDC) shows that the biggest import markets for Vietnam are Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Vietnam, for example, imported $6.27 billion worth of products in the first nine months of the year from Thailand, $3.7 billion from Malaysia and $3.59 billion from Singapore.

As for Thailand, Vietnamese enterprises spent $289.6 million to import vegetables and fruit and consumer goods, including products which can be made domestically.

While goods from ASEAN countries and China are flowing to Vietnam under free trade agreements (FTAs), Vietnamese goods are finding it difficult to penetrate the markets.

Vietnam could only export $12.5 billion worth of products during the same period, a decrease of 9.1 percent compared with the same period last year, when AEC still did not take effect.

The turnover of exports to Thailand was modest, just $2.72 billion. The figure was $2.32 billion for Malaysia and $1.72 billion for Singapore, which was just half of import turnover.

The stiff competition in the home market has forced Vietnamese enterprises to redraw their business plan, focusing on business in the domestic market before boosting exports.

A representative of Cholimex Food admitted that, despite their geographical positions and the similarity in culture, the company’s sales in some markets such as Singapore, the Philippines and Myanmar remain inconsiderable.

The revenue from ASEAN markets just accounts for 10 percent of the total export turnover.

Cholimex Food’s general director, Diep Nam Hai, said that, though the ASEAN market is very promising, it remains unfamiliar to the majority of Vietnamese enterprises.