Vietnam willing to import more F&B products from Eurasia: minister

Vietnam is willing to import more food and fertilizer products from Eurasia, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said in Moscow Thursday.

Chairing a meeting of the inter-committee on implementing the Vietnam-Eurasia Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (Vietnam-EAEU FTA), Dien said the imported products would include cognac, wheat, beef and fertilizers.

Dien said both sides need to update the trade pact because some of its terms were outdated. Only 40 percent of the pact has been utilized after more than five years, he pointed out.

He also said that Vietnam looks to learn from the experiences of the EAEU in green economic development.

The Eurasia features Russia, Belarus, Kazaskhtan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. After the trade pact between Vietnam and this bloc took effect late 2016, bilateral trade doubled from $3.04 billion to nearly $6 billion in 2021.

Last year, Vietnam exported goods worth $3.5 billion to Eurasia, up 15.3% year-on-year; and spent $2.4 billion on imports from the bloc, up 15.7% year-on-year, Vietnamese government data shows.

Russia is Vietnam’s second biggest supplier of fertilizers, exporting 149,457 tons worth $96.72 million in the first seven months of this year, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO). Russia was also the third biggest supplier of coal during the period at 1.48 million tons worth $422.72 million.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia reached $2.48 billion in the first eight months of this year, down 27.74% year-on-year, according to customs data.