Ready to expand supply

Vietnam continues to be an ideal destination for many global corporations and businesses in their diversification strategy, ensuring sustainable supply.

Sharing at the seminar: "Participation of distribution corporations and international purchasing focal points at Viet Nam International Sourcing 2024" organized by the European - American Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade on the morning of December 12 4 in the city. Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Yuichiro Shiotani, Director of Aeon Topvalu Vietnam, said that Vietnam is a chosen country and has the potential to supply goods to Aeon.

In 2023, the group has invited many buyers from China, Cambodia, and Hong Kong, and has exported many products such as: Bananas, lychees, dragon fruits, and catfish in large quantities and are loved by consumers. favourite.

“This year, businesses focusing on garment, household, and food product groups with great potential will also receive a lot of investment. Agricultural products such as bananas and fresh mangoes will be purchased 100% by Aeon from Vietnam instead of Thailand and the Philippines as before. It is expected that output will double compared to 2023," said Mr. Yuichiro Shiotani.

Having a large distribution system in the Middle East and Malaysia, Mr. Mirash Basheer, Director of Garment Exports Vietnam Company, Lulu Group also expects that through this year's event, the business will connect with many suppliers and customers. New items from Vietnam.

Mr. Mirash Basheer, Director of Garment Exports Vietnam Company, Lulu Group expects to contact and connect with many new products at Vietnam international sourcing 2024. Photo Thanh Minh

According to Mr. Mirash Basheer, in the Vietnamese market, the unit has worked and found sources of goods to export to the Middle East. Sharing about the successes at Viet Nam International sourcing 2023, Mr. Mirash Basheer said that after the event, the business was able to find sources of goods and export them to the Indian market. Compared to 2022, in 2023 the unit's export turnover will grow by 15%.

“Participating in Vietnam international sourcing 2024, the business mobilized purchasing teams from Dubai, Oman, and Kuwait. Hopefully purchasing will continue to go smoothly. In addition, we have a number of products we want to purchase in Vietnam such as: Bananas, coffee... in Vietnam", Mr. Mirash Basheer shared.

Assessing the successes of Sourcing Fair 2023, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Thuy, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Sweden ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) acknowledged that this is a successful event, helping to connect manufacturing and export businesses. Vietnam's exports to foreign import and distribution businesses in general and the Northern European region in particular. Through this event, Northern European businesses had the opportunity to learn more deeply about the Vietnamese market and the potential for cooperation in different fields, from logistics to production.

“Large corporations in the field of furniture and household goods such as FH (Denmark), IKEA (Sweden), or key businesses importing Asian food such as Scanesia (Norway), East Asia (Sweden) Dien)... when participating in the fair, I had a more or less positive view of the Vietnamese market in general and Vietnamese exports in particular. A number of contracts were signed immediately after the fair. Many new products have been introduced into the market, from frozen Vietnamese bread to grated green papaya...", Ms. Thuy informed.

With this year's event of connecting goods to the supply chain, Ms. Thuy said, the Trade Office will enhance the effectiveness of connections between businesses by organizing seminars and meetings with potential partners in Vietnam. on a large scale, combined with organizing visits to factories and export production facilities. These activities will help create opportunities for direct exchange and build trusting relationships between businesses.

The problem for Vietnamese suppliers

According to experts, the series of events connecting the international supply chain of goods is an important trade promotion activity, effectively supporting Vietnamese businesses to participate more deeply in the global production and supply chain.

Businesses highly appreciate the Viet Nam International Sourcing 2024 event

However, to seize opportunities and gain more orders with global buyers, businesses must constantly "upgrade" supply capacity and produce according to green trends and recyclable products.

According to information from the Organizing Committee, foreign businesses are very interested in Vietnam's strong products such as agricultural products, processed foods, forest products, and the group of processing and manufacturing industrial products...

Large enough production capacity, stable product quality, and competitive prices are the first standards that global buyers require. But now Vietnamese businesses must meet additional standards for green and clean products, the production process must cut emissions, save energy, raw materials, and waste recycling solutions.

Regarding these standards, Mr. Yuichiro Shiotani, Director of Aeon Topvalu Vietnam, said that in its strategy, the business is focusing on and choosing suppliers with a tendency to develop green production. For example, with banana products, businesses will choose suppliers that produce low emissions into the environment, or coffee products from businesses that ensure fair trade at the place of purchase.

For the US market, a representative of the Walmart supermarket system said that there are currently about 500 businesses supplying goods to supermarkets. However, most are FDI enterprises, while purely Vietnamese enterprises account for a very small proportion and are mainly secondary suppliers.

According to this representative, although they have enough capacity to supply Walmart, Vietnamese businesses have had certain difficulties in accessing the US market in recent times. The main challenges are in finding market information and meeting market requirements. "Currently, the amount of Vietnamese goods on Walmart supermarket is not small, but most of them are through third parties ," this representative informed, saying that Vietnamese businesses need to be more proactive in finding information and responding. market requirements.

Meanwhile, Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Vietnam Trade Counselor in the US (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that systems such as Walmart, Cotsco, Amazon are all consumer-centered and strict on quality. , commodity prices. Especially controlling input quality, ensuring green criteria, environmental responsibility, and labor.

To expand exports to the US market, Mr. Hung recommended: Businesses and industry associations need to pay attention to the standards of distribution systems. For the US market, the US distribution system is highly specialized, so selling directly to consumers is very difficult. Therefore, businesses need to successfully build a supply chain from wholesale to retail. Along with that, it is necessary to have a strategy for each item, develop distribution channels on e-commerce platforms and intermediary channels. In addition, businesses can coordinate with industry associations in states, distributors, and promotion agencies to participate in exhibitions, fairs, and expand connections...

To prepare for Vietnam sourcing 2024, Mr. Hung said that the Trade Office is currently coordinating closely with US corporations and Vietnamese export enterprises. Thereby promoting the promotion and introduction of Vietnamese goods into US distribution systems.