According to the ministry, sales are set to expand to Latin America, via the world’s fifth-largest economic bloc, which will no doubt open up a potential market for Vietnam’s exportable consumer goods.
The Mercosur countries have strengths in the production and export of agricultural products, animal feed, industrial raw materials and minerals, while Vietnam is able to supply them with electronics, telecommunications, textiles and shoes, among others.
Consequently, and according to the minister’s assessment, the structure of complementary goods and no direct competition represents an advantage for Vietnam to approach this market with so many opportunities.
On the other hand, the member states of the South American bloc have not signed preferential trade agreements with countries whose export structure competes with Vietnam, so a free trade agreement would generate a major boost for the products of this Southeast Asian nation.
Official statistics, cited by the VNA news agency when the information was released, indicate that the value of trade between Vietnam and Mercosur exceeded $12 billion in 2022, up 9.2 percent year-on-year.
The balance then tipped in favor of the South American bloc, because Vietnamese sales were only $3.3 billion, 3.4 percent more than in the previous year.
Argentina, which holds the pro-tempore Mercosur presidency in 2023, has boosted bilateral trade with Vietnam over the past decade, increasing it from $875 million in 2011 to 4.5 billion greenbacks in 2021.
The South American nation was thus cemented as Vietnam’s third largest trading partner in Latin America, surpassed only by Brazil and Mexico. Hanoi, on the other hand, is Argentina’s largest partner in Southeast Asia and the sixth largest in the world in terms of exports and imports.
Regarding trade between Vietnam and Brazil, official statistics show that its value in 2022 was $6.78 billion.
Vietnam has 15 free trade agreements in place, which experts say have opened the doors to the country’s deeper connection and participation in the value chain and global manufacturing network.
These agreements include those with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Chile, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Agreement.
jcm/mpm