Russia, Vietnam seek to bolster import and export turnover

According to Duong Hoang Minh, commercial counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia, many Vietnamese enterprises have also promoted their brands abroad.

In a recent interview granted to VOV, Minh said that this year has seen joint trade co-operation enjoy very positive developments. Import-export turnover between both nations over the past three quarters of the year hit US$3.52 billion, up 41% on-year.

This is widely viewed as being a very impressive figure, in which Vietnamese exports to Russia fetched US$1.78 billion, up 51% over the first nine months of last year. In contrast, Russian exports to the country raked in US$1.74 billion, up 32% on-year.

Throughout the reviewed period, several Vietnamese export items with high turnover included textiles and garments with US$616 million, up 120%; coffee with US$236 million, up 29%; and seafood with US$165 million, up 100%, thereby contributing to further boosting economic and trade linkages between the two countries.

Among them, key Vietnamese products included agriculture, forestry and fishery, and garments textiles, accounting for over 70% of Vietnamese export turnover to this market.

Referring to the factors that have contributed to the growth of mutual trade turnover since the beginning of the year, the Vietnamese Commercial Counselor said that Vietnamese firms have paid greater attention to trade promotion activities in the Russian market by launching an exhibition on high-quality Vietnamese goods.

This has served to create a very positive effect as this year, many Vietnamese business delegations have gone to Russia to learn about the highly lucrative market.

Most notably, in September, a delegation of 50 Vietnamese enterprises attended the International Food and Beverage Fair in Russia, while another business delegation also conducted trade activities with Russian enterprises.

Moving forward, a business delegation of the Vietnam Consumers Association and the Hanoi Business Association is set to organize a trade promotion delegation in Russia in November. These factors have contributed to significantly promoting trade between the two countries whilst increasing their import and export turnover in recent times, Minh went on to say.

As a result, the Russian market has certain attractions for Vietnamese enterprises and in recent times many local firms have tried to build their own brands. Bringing a brand abroad is affirming the Vietnamese national brand, he said, adding that businesses must register trademark protection in foreign markets.

Minh also underlined the need for local businesses to closely co-ordinate alongside embassies and trade offices of Vietnam based abroad to jointly protect Vietnamese products which have brands in foreign markets.