A tra fish processing factory. Vietnam is currently the biggest exporter of frozen tra fish fillet to the UAE. (Photo: VNA) Dubaiis stepping up urbanisation and infrastructure development, leading to higherdemand for electricity and energy in industrial and trade sectors. The developmentof smart grids and upgrade of transmission lines will also boost the UAE’s electricalcable market.
TheUAE’s electrical cable market was valued at 192.48 billion USD in 2021 and isforecast to grow by some 4.2% on average between 2022 and 2030. Therefore,electrical cables are a highly potential product for Vietnamese enterprises toinvest in and export to the Middle Eastern country, said Truong Xuan Trung, an officialof Vietnam’s Trade Office in the UAE, as cited by the Cong Thuong (Industry& Trade) newspaper.
Amongother processed and manufactured products, Vietnam can also boost the shipmentof handbags, suitcases, and wallets, he suggested.
In2022, footwear exports to the UAE brought home 185 million USD, rising nearly50% from a year earlier; textiles and garments 132 million USD; timber and woodproducts 27 million USD, statistics show.
TheHandicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City has registered totake part in a woodworking fair in the UAE in 2023. This event, which willgather many international exporters and importers, will be a good chance forVietnamese firms to seek partners, Trung said.
Inaddition, some agricultural and fishery products of Vietnam are holding a bigmarket share in the UAE and can be exported more to this market.
Datain 2022 show that fishery exports to the UAE increased by over 18% year onyear. Vietnam is currently the biggest exporter of frozen tra fish filletthere, with an over 50% market share. Such fruits as dragon fruit, watermelon,and seedless lime from the Southeast Asian country are also dominating thismarket.
However,the UAE is a market with fierce competition in terms of prices and quality, theofficial noted, adding that the Islamic country requires food and beverageimports to have Halal certificates, and also imposes high import tariffs, up to50%, on sugar-sweetened beverages.
Despiteconsiderable challenges, Trung held that the UAE is attractive enough forVietnamese firms to capitalise on since it is a highly open market, has few tariffbarriers, and serves as a point of transit for goods to reach the Middle East,Africa, and Southern Europe.
Besides,the UAE is a party to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), whose members share acommon customs law system, so when Vietnamese goods are exported to thismarket, they can enter other GCC members without having to pay more taxes.
TheUAE has asked Vietnam to consider the early signing of a bilateral comprehensiveeconomic partnership agreement so as to further facilitate Vietnamese products’entry into the Middle Eastern country, according to Trung./.
VNA
