Agricultural and Seafood Export to Finland and Nordic Markets: Road Opened Wide

Vietnam’s major agricultural exports have gradually occupied regional and global markets in recent years and Vietnam has become a leading exporter of agricultural and fishery products in the world. Vietnam’s agricultural and fishery export value has enjoyed significant growth, but remains unstable because it is driven by export volume increases, not price gains, he noted. In that context, FLC14-04 Project, funded by the Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) of the Finnish Embassy in Vietnam, has played an extremely important role in helping the Vietnamese agricultural sector to address technological weaknesses, restructure production, enhance quality and productivity, look to value-added increase and expand the export market.

 

An FLC official said the Nordic region is snowy much of the year, and demand for imported agricultural and fishery products from tropical countries like Vietnam is huge. Nevertheless, Vietnam’s agricultural products present at Nordic countries are mainly exported to third countries which process and package them before carrying to Nordic markets. Therefore, in bilateral trade data, Vietnam’s agricultural and aquatic products are almost absent. Like its aquatic products, Vietnam’s agricultural products are also facing many technical barriers and competition from rivals. For that reason, the FLC14-04 Project will support Vietnamese businesses to export agricultural and aquatic products to Finland and Northern Europe. The goals of the FLC14-04 Project are to enhance the accessibility to information, regulations and market opportunities, as well as strengthen the capacity of processors and exporters Vietnam’s agricultural and fishery products; and support businesses to perform market research, search business and investment partners in Finland and other Nordic countries, thus strengthening Vietnam's trade relations with Finland and the Nordic region.

 

Clearly, the direct beneficiaries of FLC14-04 Project are processors and exporters of agricultural and fishery products across Vietnam. They can register with the Project and receive support from it like information, training and promotion. The FLC official said training will only focus in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta - the largest producer, processor and exporter of fishery products in Vietnam.

 

Le Hang, Deputy Director of the VASEP Training and Trade Promotion Centre (VASEP.PRO), said, in 2014, Vietnam’s aquatic exports to Finland and the Nordic region accounted for only 0.32 percent and less than 1 percent, respectively, well below cooperation potential in fisheries industry. While speaking highly of the positive impacts of the FLC14-04 Project on Vietnam's fisheries sector, she also called on the Government, investors and businesses of Finland to intensify market information exchange (regulations, consumer trends, tax policies, export and import policies), promote training cooperation and technology transfer in aquatic production and processing in Vietnam, especially water treatment, waste treatment and environmental technologies, thus strengthening the capacity of the Vietnamese fisheries sector in particular and the agricultural sector in general.