Head of the West Asia – Africa Office under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade (MoIT)’s Department of Asia – Africa Markets Nguyen MinhPhuong said many Vietnamese firms suffer losses when it comes to seekingpartners or making transactions in the Middle East, which sometimes take placeonline. Some of them are ready to transfer thousands of USD as deposits withoutthoroughly checking information about their partners.
Meanwhile, a number of the Middle East partners frequentlychange contract terms unilaterally but all costs are put on the Vietnamese side.In case the Vietnamese refuse to do that, they are willing to cancel thecontracts.
Bui Thi Thanh An, deputy head of the Trade Promotion Agency,said the Middle East – Africa lie in a strategically important location, borderingAsia, Europe and Africa and serving as a goods transit point. In particular,the United Arab Emirates is the world’s third largest goods transit markets.
Vietnam’s exports to the Middle East are mostly fruits andvegetables, aquatic products, mobile phones, footwear, textiles and apparel,rice, pepper, wood and wooden furniture, cashew nuts, and coffee, she said.
Pham Hoai Linh from the Department of Asia – Africa Marketssuggested that domestic firms learn about Halal standards, habits and customsof Islamic residents to access their markets.
Via face-to-face contacts, she said they could avoid risksand invite partners to Vietnam to visit materials zones, as well asmanufacturing and processing facilities to improve mutual trust for the sake ofjoint success.
She also suggested that they hire consultants to know how tobring products to the region.
The MoIT and its Department of Asia – Africa Markets inparticular were advised to hold more trade promotion programmes so theVietnamese enterprises could form networking and navigate the market.
Tran Van Tan Cuong, Director of the Halal DevelopmentConsultancy Company, said Halal standard is key for Vietnamese firms to enter theMiddle East, adding that Halal food and standards could become the globalstandards in the future.
In order to meet Halal standards, firms will be trained inbuilding a management system, registration and many others.-VNA