Russia, Vietnam Show Strong Agricultural Trade Increases

•    Bilateral agricultural trade up 250% in five years

•    Businesses taking advantage of the Vietnam-EAEU Free Trade Agreement 

•    Russian agricultural exports to Vietnam doubling to be worth US$1 billion in 2021

The volume of Russian-Vietnamese agricultural trade has increased by more than 2.5 times over the past five years. The free trade agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam, which has been effective since October 2016, has contributed to such active growth.

Sergey Levin, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia, and Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, have chaired the meeting of the Russian-Vietnamese Working Group on Agriculture. The topics discussed at the event were the further development of mutual trade, veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance, and investment cooperation in the agricultural sector.

Last year, agricultural and food trade between the countries increased by over 30% to US$875 million. Meanwhile, Russian exports to Vietnam more than doubled to US$400 million. The positive trend has continued this year, with mutual shipments growing by 8% to US$213 million by the end of the first quarter. According to Sergey Levin, Russia is interested in increasing exports of milk, pork, fish, and dairy products to the Vietnamese market. Exports of cereals, chocolate, confectionery, mineral and sparkling water are also important.

The working group meeting continued with a business forum on “Russia-Vietnam: developing mutual trade in agricultural products”, at which prospects for strengthening cooperation were discussed. Representatives of the two countries’ agricultural agencies and approximately 80 Russian and Vietnamese companies attended the event. As part of the forum, the Miratorg and Huong Viet Import-Export companies signed a memorandum of understanding to expand the mutual food trade.

Source: Russia Briefing