Vietnamese firms urged to boost Cambodia trade

Vietnamese firms urged to boost Cambodia trade

HCM CITY — Vietnamese businesses need to learn more about the Cambodian market's consumer needs and develop distribution channels in order to expand trade, according to the Vietnamese trade counsellor in Cambodia.

Vu Thinh Cuong, speaking at an online forum on Cambodian trade yesterday, said that products should conform with Cambodian taste and customs, including packaging and labelling.

"Businesses need to establish good distribution channels for the direct circulation of goods to rural residents," he said, adding that rural Cambodians think highly of the quality and price of Vietnamese goods.

He also advised businesses to have reliable Cambodian partners with adequate financial capacity for distribution channels.

For the last eight months of the year, export turnover from Viet Nam to Cambodia reached US$1.5 million, an increase of 59 per cent over the same period last year.

Textile exports gained the strongest growth of 71 per cent, while seafood and food products increased 54 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively, compared with the same period last year.

"Vietnamese processed seafood for rural residents and fresh fish, shrimp and crabs have the most potential," Cuong said.

Key export items from Viet Nam to Cambodia are petrol, construction materials, agricultural machinery, pesticides and fertilisers, plastic items, food and utensils, vegetables, textiles and seafood.

Seven sectors in Cambodia should be given priority, including agriculture and agriculture-supported industry, basic and telecommunications infrastructure, thermoelectric power and energy, industry with high-usage proportion of local labour, hospitality and healthcare, and education.

Viet Nam's 41 projects in Cambodia account for a total investment of $566 million as of 2010, ranking ninth in the top list of countries investing in Cambodia.

Viet Nam has invested in rubber plantations, telecommunications, food processing, textiles and construction materials.

Currently, the Cambodian government allows a lease of 70 years on rubber plantations.

The Viet Nam Industrial Rubber Corporation has developed 14 projects with an area of 100,000ha of land, while private investors have invested in 10 projects with 50,000ha.

As of May, Vietnamese businesses had added two rubber plantation projects with total capital of $60 million.

Cambodia continues to be a key market for Vietnamese goods.

"In 2012, Viet Nam will continue to open exhibition fairs and trade promotions in Cambodia," said Le Bien Cuong, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Southeast Asia Division.

Cuong said this year's promotion programmes to Cambodia still has a national trade promotion campaign that takes place in November. — VNS

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