The Ho Chi Minh City agricultural and food product booth at the Food Africa Cairo 2025 exhibition opens up many export opportunities to the region.

The 10th Food Africa Cairo International Food Exhibition, held from December 9-12, 2025 at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, marked the first time a large number of 36 businesses from Ho Chi Minh City participated, showcasing high-quality Vietnamese agricultural and food products in three pavilions named “Viet Nam – Ho Chi Minh City Pavilion”.

The booths, professionally organized and designed by the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center (ITPC), attracted significant attention from importers in the region, opening up many opportunities to boost exports to the African and Middle Eastern markets in the coming period.

Ambassador Nguyen Nam Duong and Ms. Ho Thi Quyen, Deputy Director of ITPC, introduced Vietnamese products to Mr. Albert Aoun, Chairman of IFP Group.

This is the result of effective exchange and coordination between the Trade Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt and the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center (ITPC), which began in March 2025 and received enthusiastic participation from businesses in the city. Businesses brought a wide variety of high-quality products to the exhibition, including coffee, spices, grains, food processing ingredients, beverages, confectionery, dairy products, seafood, etc., to introduce to importers in the region.

Preliminary assessments by ITPC during the first two days of the exhibition showed that Ho Chi Minh City's booths attracted a large number of visitors, with a significant proportion being international visitors, mainly from Africa, the Middle East, and India. Highly sought-after product groups included raw and semi-processed agricultural products (rice, beans, grains, etc.); nuts (cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc.); soft drinks, bottled fruit juices, and various types of cakes, snacks, and biscuits. This opened up many opportunities for businesses to increase exports not only to Egypt but also to other countries in the region. In particular, Sunrise Company's rice product, introduced for the first time at the exhibition, received very high praise from many buyers, demonstrating the importance of participating in major international trade fairs and exhibitions in the region.

Ms. Ho Thi Quyen, Deputy Director of ITPC, received Lebanese businesses at the City's booth.

Prior to the exhibition's opening, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Egypt, in coordination with ITPC, organized several market research activities and meetings with the LuLu Hypermarket chain. During these meetings, Mr. Huzaifa Qureshi, Regional Director, met with and answered questions from Vietnamese businesses regarding opportunities to participate in the supply chain in the market. He also expressed his desire to collaborate on organizing a week-long exhibition of Vietnamese products at the supermarket next year.

A delegation of businesses from Ho Chi Minh City surveyed and worked with the Director of LuLu Hypermarket supermarket chain before the opening day of the Exhibition.

As part of the activities of the Vietnamese business delegation on the sidelines of Food Africa, the Trade Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt, in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center, organized an information session on the agricultural and food markets of Egypt and Lebanon. They also invited Mr. Alaa Elbially, Head of Investment Promotion, Egyptian Trade Commission (ECS), and Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, CEO of EuP Egypt Industries – the only 100% Vietnamese-owned enterprise in Egypt – to share information with businesses about policies and trade and investment opportunities in the market.

The Trade Representative in Egypt updated the business delegation on the Egyptian and Lebanese food markets before the opening of the Exhibition.

Egypt is a traditional and important trading partner of Vietnam in the North African region, while Vietnam has also become a reliable partner, providing a stable supply of many agricultural and food products that Egypt has a large demand for. According to preliminary data from Vietnam Customs, Vietnam's export turnover to Egypt in the first 11 months of 2025 reached US$522 million, an increase of 22% compared to the same period last year. Agricultural and food products all showed impressive growth of 30% or more, such as seafood (US$65.0 million, up 55%), coffee (US$55.5 million, up 30%), pepper (US$38.2 million, up 52%), fruits and vegetables (US$17.7 million, up 33%), and cashew nuts (US$15.9 million, up 37%).

With a population of 108 million (CAPMAS 8/2025), rapid population growth, and a strong recovery in the tourism industry after the pandemic, Egypt's demand for agricultural products and food is high. Domestic agricultural production cannot meet this demand, leading Egypt to import many agricultural products, especially those in which it does not have a competitive advantage, such as spices (pepper, cinnamon, star anise), cashews, coconut, coffee, tea, etc. In addition, Egypt also has a large need to import raw materials for livestock farming and food processing for export to the region.

According to Egyptian Customs data, in the first eight months of 2025, the import share of many Vietnamese agricultural products into Egypt was high, such as coffee (accounting for 19.6% of total import value, second only to Brazil), pepper (accounting for 44.1% of import market share, ahead of Brazil), cashew nuts (accounting for 59.1%), and coconut meat (accounting for 41.9%, ahead of Indonesia and Sri Lanka). These are all products in which Vietnam has strengths and the potential to increase its market share. In addition, some other Vietnamese products such as tea, rice, and beverages have not yet penetrated the Egyptian market mainly due to price competition; however, these are also potential products with many opportunities to be explored.

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Source: Vietnam Trade Office in Egypt

Tags: Food Africa Cairo 2025 Exhibition

Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/gian-hang-nong-san-thuc-pham-cua-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-tai-trien-lam-food-africa-cairo-2025-mo-ra-nhieu-co-hoi-xuat-khau.html