VOV.VN - Vietnam has emerged as the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia, with two-way trade with New Zealand reaching US$2.68 billion following growth of 40% recorded over the past five years, according to New Zealand’s newswire rnz.co.nz.
At present, New Zealand apple exporters are trying to capitalise on the increasingly wealthy Vietnamese consumer, while elbowing out global competition.
Recently, New Zealand's new Trade and Investment Minister of State, Nicola Grigg told the Parliament of New Zealand that they are well-placed to capitalise on Vietnam's growing demand for high-value food and beverage.
"As Vietnam gets wealthier, Vietnamese people want to buy high quality products from around the world and we, of course, have some of the best food and beverage producers and innovative businesses around," Minister Grigg said.
Meanwhile, Ben McLeod, head of sales and marketing at Mr Apple NZ Ltd, emphasised that Vietnamese economic growth has been phenomenal.
"Many people say Vietnam is like the new China just maybe 10 years behind. It's seen rapid growth in the last 10 to 15 years. It's come from what was a poor to lower income country to now a lower to middle income country,” he added.
McLeod stressed that several free trade agreements between New Zealand and Vietnam have put the country in good stead with other rival fruit markets, namely the United States.
"Free trade agreements are all important to try and help us get a little bit of leverage where we can, because we still have to compete. We have to compete with the likes of Chile and South Africa, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere window,” he assessed.
Sharing this perspective, Brendon Osborn, sales and marketing manager of Heartland Fruit, said the Vietnamese population was becoming increasingly wealthy, marked by the rise of large locally-owned retail super-malls targeted at medium and high income shoppers.
"And so we've seen a real rise in demand for New Zealand goods because they can afford them right now," Osborn said.
According to statistics, last year saw New Zealand export NZD172 million worth of fruit to Vietnam, including key products such as apples, kiwifruit, and cherries.
