The Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) that took effect in October 2009 has significantly increased trade between the two countries.
Tadashi Kikuchi, economic attaché at the Japanese Consulate General in the city, told a VJEPA conference in HCM City on November 23 that bilateral trade grew by more than 20 percent last year to US$16.7 billion and hit nearly US$15 billion in the past nine months of this year.
Thanks to reduction and abolishment of tariffs on several Vietnamese goods under the agreement, seafood, textile and garment, and vegetable exports have picked up.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said the tariff reduction has improved the competitiveness of Vietnamese products.
Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary, said Japan is now Vietnam's largest importer of frozen shrimp with a record US$397 million in the past nine months.
Vietnam’s seafood exports so far this year are estimated at US$668 million, an increase of 4 percent over the same period last year, with tuna, cuttlefish, and octopus being the main items besides frozen shrimp.
Some other sectors like garment and textile, footwear, fruit and vegetables, electrical products and cables, and wood products have also capitalised on preferential tariffs to promote exports to Japan, said Huynh Khanh Hiep, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade.
Bui Huy Son, director of the Asia-Pacific Market Department, said there is plenty of opportunity as Vietnam’s textile and garments as well as 23 out of 30 key agricultural, forestry, and seafood items enjoy tariff breaks.
However, he said, there remains a lack of understanding of the Japanese market and business culture.
Source: VOV/VNA