April 5, 2010

Vietnam looks to capitalise trade treaty with Japan

Vietnamese businesses will continue to take advantage of a trade deal with Japan that took effect last year to boost exports to that market, business leaders predict.

Since the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement came into effect in June 2009, reducing and eliminating tariffs on Vietnamese goods such as seafood and vegetable exports have been robust.

The Vietnam Seafood Export and Processing Association said the tariff reduction has increased the competitiveness of Vietnamese products compared to those from other countries in the region.

Le Van Quang, general director of Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Co, said Japan did not buy much shrimp from Vietnam in the past owing to high prices, preferring to import shrimp from Thailand and Indonesia. But the tariff cuts have changed all that.

Japan is now Vietnam's largest buyer of frozen shrimp, with imports of US$400 million last year, or almost 30% of all the shrimp the country exports.

In the first two months of this year, seafood exports to Japan were worth US$89.7 million, 11.6% higher year on year.