Vietnamese businesses should take advantage of the ASEAN- Australia -New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) to better exploit the New Zealand market, economists have said.

The economists also suggested the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency build trade promotion programmes and help businesses to access the market effectively.

According to the Export-Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, although New Zealand is a small market, the country has provided many consumer products of good quality for Vietnam while importing many goods from the country.

New Zealand also proves itself a market of high taste and stable price, the department added, noting that in 2011, Vietnam ’s export to the market surged by about 30 percent while imports rose just 8 percent.

With such speed, the trade balance between the two countries is expected to equalise.

The department described New Zealand as a provider of material milk and wood for Vietnamese producers and processors.

Each year, New Zealand ’s imports of minerals, machinery and consumer goods from Vietnam increase by about 25-30 percent.

The New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry allowed Vietnamese mango fruit to enter the market from Nov. 11, 2011.

Notably, apart from goods, next year Vietnamese businesses will conduct a number of new cooperative programmes with their New Zealand partners in kiwi fruit planting, husbandry, afforestation, timber exploitation and labour export.

However, the department warned Vietnamese businesses to pay attention to the quality of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products in accordance with the country’s biosecurity regulations./.