Hanoi (VNA) – Along with ensuringquality and safety, Vietnamese firms should make their products’ price suitableand meet customers’ demands to sell in foreign distribution channels, saidNaohisa Saeki, AEON Vietnam’s Deputy General Manager.
Last week, Vietnamese products were for thefirst time sold in the Japanese-owned supermarket AEON Mall in Ho Chi Minh Cityduring a “Vietnamese Products Week”, which ran from May 12-18.
The event aimed to promote the export ofVietnamese products through the distribution channel.
The 140 products introduced at the event includedprocessed food, farm produce, organic products, consumer goods, handicrafts andgifts produced by 16 Vietnamese enterprises, many of which have engaged inprogrammes to stabilise food and foodstuff prices of Ho Chi Minh City.
Naohisa Saeki said the supermarket hasrecognised that many Vietnamese enterprises are capable of becoming itssuppliers.
He said the most important requirement of AEONis safety. He added that to sell Vietnamese products abroad, domestic firmsshould enhance their products’ quality and meet all international standards,while ensuring completing orders on time.
In October 2017, the Investment and TradePromotion Centre also held a programme to introduce Vietnamese products to AEON.Following the event, 23 enterprises became suppliers of the retailer.
According to the Ministry of Industry andTrade, since early 2000, the Vietnamese retail market has attracted manyforeign investors, with pioneers including Metro of Germany and Bourbon ofFrance. This has given chances for Vietnamese firms to access foreigndistributors in Vietnam instead of exporting their products through an importer.
With the ratio of direct exporting ofVietnamese products abroad, especially wooden products, garment, leather and footwear,low in both revenue and volume, the ministry started working to connect foreigndistributors in Vietnam and domestic firms.
The activities benefited both Vietnamese firmsand foreign distributors, as Vietnamese firms better understood the demand ofcustomers and learnt modern management methods, while distributors had morediverse and quality products. Both sides enjoyed higher profits due to cuttingintermediary costs.
Since it was first held in 2011 in Casinosupermarket chain in France, Vietnamese Products Week abroad have been held in manyretail chains, including Metro, Carrefour and Segos of France, Lotte, Emart ofthe Republic of Korea, AEON of Japan and Central Group of Thailand.
Shiotani Yuichiro, General Director of AEONTopvalu said that in 2016, AEON imported 200 million USD worth of goods fromVietnam to sell in its supermarket. In 2018, AEON will continue hosting VietnameseProducts’ Week in July and September, creating chances for enterprises to seekpartnerships.
Since 2015, Lotte Mart Vietnam has also used Vietnamesefirms as suppliers. In 2016, Lotte Mart imported 1.3 trillion VND (57.2 millionUSD) worth of Vietnamese goods. Its supermarket chains in Indonesia and Chinaalone bought about 100 billion VND of Vietnamese goods. The most popularproductd of Vietnam included aquatic products, garments, and consumer goods.
In 2017, Lotte Mart spent more than 2 trillionVND for Vietnamese goods, mostly farm produce, fresh products and consumergoods with high quality and reasonable prices. The distributor is seeking newsuppliers from Vietnam.
In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Tradewill hold a number of conferences to train Vietnamese firms to enhance theircompetitiveness and capacity in accessing foreign distributors.
The events are hoped to connect domestic firmswith foreign distributors, helping the firm learn of the requirements anddemands of the partners.
At the same time, the ministry will alsoencourage FDI distributors to transfer technology and improve capacity fordomestic enterprises, thus helping them join supply chains in othercountries.-VNA