Impressive growth in 2007
According to experts from The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the projected export growth is not groundless. Two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU last year reached US$14.23 billion, up 39.26 percent over 2006. Of the total, Vietnam’s exports hit US$9.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.2 percent. Major export staples included footwear, garments, coffee, wood products and seafood, which made up 80 percent of total exports to this market.

Despite a 10-percent anti-dumping tax level, footwear topped the list with US$2.184 billion in value, up 11.4 percent over 2006. It was followed by garments which brought in US$1.5 billion, up 16.5 percent. 

Other staples which achieved high export growth rates were natural rubber, plastics, computer and electronic accessories, stationery, kid toys, coal, pepper and cashew nuts.

Since the EU imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese bikes in 2004, the export of this product has seen a sharp decline of 59.5 percent in 2007, 46.2 percent in 2006 and 42.89 percent in 2005.

Currently, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands are Vietnam’s biggest EU importers, with the average export growth rate ranging 20-30 percent per annum. 

Major ambitious targets in 2008
The MoIT forecast that Vietnam’s exports to the EU are estimated at US$11.18 billion, up 23 percent over 2007.

Among key products, coffee is expected to achieve a 30 percent export growth. The EU is considered Vietnam’s potential coffee importer as it makes up more than half the country’s coffee export value. Big importers include Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Britain and the Netherlands.

Currently, the EU is imposing an anti-dumping tax level of 10-percent on Vietnamese leather capped shoes until October 2008. It will exclude the product from the list of commodities which enjoy the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for the 2009-2010 period. Therefore, footwear exports are projected to increase by only 8 percent over 2007.

The EU’s abolition of quotas on Vietnamese garments and re-imposition of quotas on Chinese garments has facilitated the export of these products from Vietnam to the EU. However, experts warn that Vietnamese garments are still facing fierce competition with the products from India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Indonesia. In addition, Vietnamese garments exported to non-quota WTO members will experience big changes in makers’ business and production strategies. Garments exports to the EU are estimated to increase by 20 percent in 2008.

The EU is the world’s biggest seafood importer which has tough requirements in terms of quality, food hygiene and safety. Experts forecast that there would be no sharp increase in the export of Vietnamese seafood to this demanding market, as the quality of this product has not improved much. However, the MOIT experts forecast that seafood exports to the EU could increase by 34 percent to US$1.2 billion.

Other products which are expected to achieve high growth rates include stationery (50 percent), plastics (40 percent), computers and electronic accessories (40 percent), handicrafts (20 percent), and wood products (20 percent).

For bikes and bike spare parts, the EU is scheduled to reconsider its anti-dumping tariff levels and the export of these products is expected to recover in 2008 to achieve a 10 percent increase.