Hanoi (VNA) – The more than 5 million Vietnamese people livingand working in 130 countries have helped bring Vietnamese goods,especially farm produce, to the world.

The consumer market of Vietnamese products in the world isincreasingly expanding. In addition to the efforts to standardise the quality ofproducts and the capacity to exploit the market of Vietnamese enterprises,there is also a significant contribution by the Vietnamese community in thehost countries. This is also considered an important factor that helps Vietnamesegoods to reach further and gain a firm foothold in major markets around theworld.

According to Nguyen Le Quoc Tuan, general director of SongHuong Foods specialising in exporting Vietnamese specialties to the US, thecompany’s export activities have been more favourable as it gets help with proceduresto apply for a certification from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

One of the reasons for its export of homegrown specialtiesto expand in the US market is the clips of Vietnamese cuisine beingwatched a lot by expatriates, Tuan said, adding that the enterprise itself has also actively propularised products to the overseas Vietnamese (OV) communitythrough social networks.

Nguyen Ngoc Luan, Manager of Global Trade Link Co., Ltd. whichis exporting fruit-flavoured coffee and fruits to Australia, the US and theRepublic of Korea, said that initially, his company chose distribution partners.However, they did not care about Vietnamese brands, so despite a lotof marketing costs, the firm’s strategy failed.

After that, the company shifted to cooperate withoverseas Vietnamese-owned businesses in the host countries. To date, 80% of thecompany's partners abroad are OV, and its cooperation indistribution of goods is very convenient. Notably, there is a major distributorin Europe that imports not only coffee but also pomelo and coconut from Vietnam,stated Luan.

Speaking at a hybrid conference on the role of OVcommunities in the “Vietnamese people prioritise made-in-Vietnam goods”campaign held in Ho Chi Minh City in late June, Pham Viet Hung, director of thedepartment for economic, scientific and technological relations at the ForeignMinistry’s State Committee for OV Affairs, stressed that Vietnamese goods areimported into other countries mainly by foreign firms.

Given this, it is necessary to set up networks andassociations of OV entrepreneurs to promote the distribution of Vietnamesegoods in foreign markets and prevent market risks, he noted, adding thatconnection should also be boosted to organise more business forums in othercountries to expand the presence of made-in-Vietnam goods in the world.

Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Australia Nguyen Phu Hoa saidthat the Vietnamese Embassy is working to diversify trade promotion programmesand coordinating closely with Vietnamese firms to step up marketing goods fromthe country, especially agricultural products and apparel, in Australia.

At the event, representatives of OV associations andentrepreneurs affirmed that the OV communities are always interested in andwant to use Vietnamese goods, and that they are ready to help advertise andestablish distribution networks for made-in-Vietnam items in their hostcountries.

They also suggested some measures to promote the export ofVietnamese goods to global markets./.