Vietnam-Israel trade likely to top 1 bln USD this year

Tel Aviv (VNA) – Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Israel will continue thriving this year with its value likely to top 1 billion USD, the Vietnamese trade office in Israel said on August 28.

According to Vietnamese trade counsellor to the Middle East country Le Thai Hoa, Vietnam exports an estimated 520 million USD to the country and splashes out some 127 million USD on Israeli imports during January-August.

Despite formidable challenges in the Israeli market, Vietnam’s shipments to the country are expected at over 800 million USD, and imports at around 200 million USD for the whole year, he said.

Instable political situation in Israel has made Vietnamese enterprises feel insecured to do business with their Israel partners. Therefore, Vietnamese exports to the country fell slightly during January-July while imports dwindled dramatically, mostly due to a drop in the purchase of Israeli computers and electronic spare parts.

Hoa stressed as the two markets share complementary features, their products do not directly complete with each other. In fact, most of Israeli imports are strength of Vietnam’s exports. Many Israel firms have expressed their interest in buying Vietnamese cashew, tuna, frozen shrimp, squid, beverage, garment, footwear, consumer goods, and dried fruits.

Notably, footwear shipments to Israel in the seven-month period surged 31.8 percent year on year. Besides, Vietnamese rice and shrimp have gained a firm foothold in the Israeli market. However, exports of seafood tapered off 32 percent as Israel started strengthening food safety measures on imports at the end of 2018.-VNA