Businesses from HCM City and neighbouring provinces learn how to boost exports to the Thai market at a conference held by the HCM City Trade and Promotion Investment Centre on Thursday. — VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

HCM CITY — Vietnamese exporters need to improve the quality of their products and take advantage of online platforms to reach foreign buyers amid the pandemic, especially in Thailand, a seminar heard in HCM City this week.

Speaking at the event organised by the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, Trần Phú Lữ, deputy director of the centre, said Việt Nam and Thailand are members of the ASEAN Economic Community, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Mekong River Commission, Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, and Greater Mekong Subregion.

Thailand is Việt Nam’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, with their trade accounting for 30 per cent of Việt Nam’s total trade with all ASEAN member countries in 2016-19, he said. 

Last year it was worth nearly US$17 billion. 

Việt Nam’s exports to Thailand account for a fifth of its total exports to the bloc. Due to the impact of the pandemic, trade between the two in the first nine months of the year fell 12.2 per cent year-on-year while Việt Nam’s exports declined by 11.9 per cent to $3,616 billion.

The two countries are negotiating to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and six of their FTA partners such as China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

Trương Tố Uyên, beverage purchasing director for Central Retail in Việt Nam, said Vietnamese exporters should produce competitive products if they want to display them on shelves at Thailand’s Big C & Go! in Việt Nam.

“To enter the supermarket system, suppliers need to meet stringent technical standards.

“The products must be of high quality; they must have the required licences and certificates; shipping conditions and product containers must comply with the requirements for each type of product.”

Products must also meet traceability and environmental protection requirements, she added.

Vietnamese exporters communicate online with Thai buyers at a conference held by the HCM City Trade and Promotion Investment Centre on Thursday on boosting exports to Thailand. — VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

Others said Vietnamese businesses need to step up investment, expand scale, improve the quality of their products, and be original equipment manufacturers.

Central Retail operates 35 malls and 230 stores in 39 out of Việt Nam’s 63 provinces. 

On the sidelines of the conference, businesses also introduced their products to Thai businesses through an online platform.

More than 180 businesses from HCM City and neighbouring provinces participated in the event. — VNS