Listening to the promotion of Ms. Suong Pham Glauser, an overseas Vietnamese in Switzerland, I could not help but immediately take a train to the beautiful land of the movie Crash Landing on You. There are many things here that surprised me!
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| The author and Ms. Regula, owner of the Ragual's Bambus Schalen product booth. (Photo: Cat Phuong) |
Ignoring my surprise at the wonderful scenery during the four-hour train ride from Munich (Germany), Ms. Suong Pham Glauser smiled brightly like the spring sunshine: “Do you see? Switzerland is charming with snow-white mountains like the platinum hair of a knight, with the blue eyes of the Arve River. Even more wonderful, today, in Sursee, the largest market in Central Switzerland opens!”. Having heard of the Marktmeile Sursee market for a long time, I was excited because the opportunity to enjoy it unexpectedly came so early!
Impression Marktmeile Sursee
Stretching from Sursee station where I got off the train, the crowded and bustling Marktmeile market takes place all the way to Bahnhofstrasse Sursee. The stalls are close together along the 2km long street, bustling with shoppers and spectators in the market's transitional season between Spring and Summer.
The first impression, right at the beginning of the street, are the historic tractors, lined up on both sides of Bahnhofstrasse, decorated by the owner in an extremely eye-catching way for tourists to admire and take pictures. The tractors remind us of the “old days” of Swiss farmers when they were young and followed their fathers on tractors through fields of bright yellow dandelions. Seeing us staring, Paul, a Swiss friend with a hearty laugh, pulled us into the car to “take a check-in photo”.
After browsing through a series of booths, we arrived at the space for local associations, where many activities were taking place, from folk song and dance performances to hockey corners or first aid instruction by charitable associations…
Further along Bahnhofstrasse, also known as the “soul of the market”, are several hundred stalls crowded like a trade show. The stalls display and sell everything from modern solar-powered household appliances to second-hand goods, from cultural products such as paintings… to food stalls, flowers… Marktmeile Sursee just makes me look endlessly without getting bored.
Surprise... Vietnam
The couple, Ms. Suong Pham Glauser and Mr. Hans-Peter Glauser, pulled me to the middle of the market with stalls selling and displaying products. I was overwhelmed when I saw familiar items in the middle of the crowded market. There, I saw officials from the Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland such as Ms. Nguyen Ha Phuong and Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuong (Commercial Counselor) standing next to the stall of the famous bamboo product brand Regula's Bambus Schalen.
Both of them could not hide their excitement when I opened my eyes wide to hear the Swiss shop owner introduce to customers: “This product is made from Vietnamese bamboo. All bowls are made from 100% bamboo, without impurities, tested for food safety by the Swiss company SGS and can hold wet and hot food in many colors and accompanying items such as cups, knives, forks, straws…”.
Seeing me, she immediately greeted me: “Are you from Hanoi ? We named this orange-yellow bowl Hanoi. This small bowl is called Sapa bowl. This big one is called Ha Long bowl… They are named after the places we visited in Vietnam”. Indeed, that is a good way of calling by the Swiss so that the listener can remember the origin of the product, with names that are “very beautiful, very Vietnamese” and appreciate the maximum value of the product.
Mr. Duc Thuong said that in addition to household products like this booth, Vietnam also has many other products that have entered the Swiss market such as leather goods, travel goods, handbags, machinery and mechanical equipment, seafood, coffee... In particular, there are the largest export products of Vietnam to Switzerland in 2022, with a turnover exceeding 100 million USD, such as machinery, electrical equipment and components, footwear, garments...
The Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Switzerland said that despite its small population (8.8 million people), Switzerland is an important economic partner of Vietnam in Europe. Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are also negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). So far, the two sides have gone through 16 official negotiation sessions and many mid-term discussions. Vietnam, Switzerland and the bloc's member countries (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) are determined to negotiate in a spirit of flexibility and mutual benefit to be able to sign the agreement.
According to Swiss Customs data in 2022, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and Switzerland reached nearly 2.5 billion USD, an increase of 2.2% compared to 2021. Notably, two of our products currently occupy a fairly high market share and position in the Swiss market: footwear and seafood.
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| Panorama of the Marktmeile Sursee 2023 market. (Photo: Raphael) |
Opportunity to enter a difficult market
Mr. Duc Thuong added: “Although Switzerland is open to industrial products, it has a policy of protecting the agricultural sector through a system of tariffs, technical barriers, etc. The market capacity is not large, but the quality requirements are very high, especially for agricultural and food products. Even products that have been put into consumption in supermarkets, stores, etc. are still regularly subject to surprise quality checks.
In addition, market demand for some Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products such as cashew nuts, pepper, tra fish, etc. has shown signs of slowing down or growing slowly in recent years. Vietnamese goods are also facing increasingly strong competition from other countries, especially countries in the region and countries that have FTAs with Switzerland and the EFTA bloc.
There are currently more than 100 Swiss companies operating in Vietnam. Among the major Swiss corporations investing in Vietnam, we can mention Nestlé (food, beverages), Novatis/Ciba - Sandoz (pharmaceuticals), Roche (pharmaceuticals), Holcim (cement), ABB (electrical equipment, transformer station construction), Sulzer (mechanical engineering, electrical equipment), Zuellig Pharma (pharmaceuticals, medical equipment)...
Some Vietnamese agricultural, aquatic and food products have a good market share and position in the Swiss market such as frozen pangasius, frozen and processed shrimp, cashew nuts, processed tuna...
Mr. Duc Thuong's voice became more and more cheerful as he spoke: "By 2030, with the prospect of the FTA between Vietnam and EFTA (including Switzerland) being signed and taking effect, along with solutions to improve the competitiveness of export products, directly participate in distribution systems, promote trade promotion and expand markets, promptly grasp and respond to new trends in consumption... Vietnam's agricultural, aquatic and food export turnover to Switzerland can maintain an average growth rate of 8-10%/year and reach about 300-350 million USD by 2030".
The story of the market and market share took us all the way to the cobbled street, that is Martigny Square - where there are stalls introducing unique products of the craftsmen of the Sursee region, followed by the food court.
For the Swiss, the end of the market is all about comfort. So the last space of the market is often arranged with a chain of restaurants. Choosing Määrt-Beiz, a chain of drinks and snacks in Sursee right on the square, opposite St. Georg's school, we could both eat and watch the artists perform.
According to Ms. Nguyen Ha Phuong, the Swiss have high demands on products, once the quality criteria are met, everything else is easy. Vietnam's main export products to Switzerland are not subject to quotas because the Swiss side still grants Vietnam the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
Products that have the opportunity to enter the Swiss market in the near future include processed foods, rice (especially fragrant rice, specialty rice), seafood, vegetables, tropical fruits, etc. as well as organic products. These will be the “golden spots” of Vietnam in the Swiss market.
After a short but interesting and exciting walk, we leisurely gazed at the clear blue sky. “Today is the first sunny day here in six months,” said Han-Petter. “And the Marktmeile Sursee market closes at midnight and is expected to attract up to 30,000 visitors from all over.”
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