Promoting exports to Latin American markets through goods distribution channels

Vietnamese products make a breakthrough in the Latin American market? Vietnamese seafood market share in the Latin American market increases thanks to CPTPP

Trade and investment have not yet reached their full potential.

Held within the framework of the event series “Connecting international supply chains” (Viet Nam International Sourcing 2023) organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in coordination with the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, “Vietnam - Latin America Trade Forum 2023” has the theme “Promoting exports to the Latin American market through goods distribution channels”.

Thúc đẩy xuất khẩu sang thị trường Mỹ Latinh qua các kênh phân phối hàng hóa

Mr. Ta Hoang Linh - Director of the European - American Market Department spoke at the Forum.

Speaking at the opening of the Forum, Mr. Ta Hoang Linh - Director of the European - American Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - said: For many years, trade and investment relations between Vietnam and the Latin American region have been continuously developed and expanded, despite many difficult periods of the market.

In just five years, two-way trade turnover has doubled from 14.2 billion USD in 2018 (also the first year the Vietnam - Latin America Trade Forum was held) to 23 billion USD in 2022.

Notably, in addition to the markets with the leading trade turnover in the region such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, many emerging markets such as Panama, Colombia, Peru have become bright spots in Vietnam's trade exchange with Latin America with impressive growth rates in recent years.

“In terms of Vietnam’s trade relations, Latin America has always been among the most important markets. Not only is it a potential export market for Vietnam’s key products such as textiles, footwear, agricultural and aquatic products, etc., Latin America is also an important supplier of raw materials for Vietnam’s manufacturing industry with key products such as corn, soybeans, animal feed…”- Mr. Ta Hoang Linh said.

Regarding investment, Vietnam continues to implement a number of important investment projects in Latin America with capital of hundreds of millions of USD such as telecommunications network development projects of Viettel Group in Peru and Haiti, projects of Viglacera Corporation and Thai Binh Company in Cuba in the fields of infrastructure, consumer goods production... On the contrary, by the end of 2022, there were 21 Latin American countries investing in Vietnam with 117 projects, with a total registered investment capital of about 673 million USD.

However, the trade value between Vietnam and Latin America is still modest and not commensurate with its potential. The Vietnamese and Latin American business communities still face many challenges in business cooperation such as: long geographical distance, no direct freight routes, high logistics costs, language differences, lack of market information and especially in the current context, economic recession, geopolitical conflicts and the prolonged impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have been causing negative impacts on global trade, including trade between Vietnam and Latin American countries.

In the first 8 months of 2023, bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Latin America reached 13.4 billion USD, down 14% over the same period in 2022. However, a positive signal is that the decline in import and export is gradually narrowing compared to the first months of the year and there are still some markets with 8-month turnover achieving positive growth compared to the same period in 2022, showing that two-way trade between Vietnam and Latin America is showing signs of recovery.

Ms. Tatiana Prazeres, Vice Minister in charge of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of Brazil, speaking online

Create opportunities for businesses to access major distribution channels

In the context of the current unstable world economic situation, promoting bilateral economic relations as well as within multilateral frameworks is extremely necessary to accelerate the economic recovery process on a global scale. And the "Vietnam - Latin America Trade Forum 2023" is organized to support Vietnamese enterprises in their efforts to participate deeply in the global production and supply chain, promoting connections between distribution channels, foreign importers and domestic production and export enterprises.

Businesses discuss at the Forum

Accordingly, Mr. Mario Schuff, economic and diplomatic expert, Director in charge of Vietnam - Argentina relations of the Asian Chamber of Commerce, updated the situation of the Latin American market in the current context for Vietnamese enterprises to understand, and analyzed the opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese enterprises in the Latin American region, emphasizing that the potential is huge, but enterprises need to have methodical and professional steps.

Representing Latin American businesses attending the Forum, Ms. Veronica (Coppel Group, Mexico), Mr. Federico Bucher (Cencosud Group, Chile) and Ms. Roberta Guttler Difini (Renner Textile Group, Brazil) also shared useful information for Vietnamese businesses in researching, learning, and penetrating the market; at the same time, orienting Vietnamese businesses to identify potential directions and products for each market, approaching and meeting quality standards, regulations, and bringing goods to distribution and retail groups of Latin American countries.

On behalf of Vietnamese enterprises, Mr. Ly Hoang Hai, Director of Eurofins Company and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, Sales Director of Napoli Coffee Company shared their practical experiences in trade transactions with Latin American countries, as well as notes for Vietnamese enterprises in business cooperation with this region.

“The first thing businesses must do is understand consumer habits, distribution channels and geographical conditions because if they do not pay attention, it will affect the exported shipment. In addition, regarding payment, Vietnamese businesses should open L/C to support both import and export sides. In addition, because this is a distant market and the delivery time is long, it is necessary to choose packaging that is suitable for consumption habits and distribution channels in Latin America; at the same time, it must have a longer usage time. In particular, it is necessary to choose a shipping unit that understands the market and has appropriate certifications for each country in the region,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, Sales Director of Napoli Coffee Company.

This year’s Forum, in addition to Vietnamese enterprises, also had the direct participation of nearly 30 Latin American business delegations. Immediately after the Forum discussion, the enterprises participated in a live B2B connection session. At this connection session, Vietnamese enterprises had the opportunity to directly learn about the needs and requirements of Latin American enterprises in finding Vietnamese partners, thereby opening up many cooperation opportunities in the future.

Source link