Ample room remains for Vietnamese exports to Africa

The Asian-African Market Department said that trade between Vietnam and Africa increased from $2.52 billion in 2010 to $5.5 billion in 2022.

Of the total, Vietnam's exports were valued at more than $2.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $226.3 million.

Vietnam mainly shipped rice ($568.6 million), phones and parts ($355.6 million), computers and electronic products ($210.4 million), and footwear ($141.8 million) to Africa.

Meanwhile, it bought cashew nuts ($1.1 billion), metals ($484.1 million), and wood and wood products ($114.3 million) from this continent.

In the coming time, to facilitate intra-bloc trade, African nations will pour more capital into infrastructure facilities, thus opening up more opportunities for Vietnamese goods to access more markets, including 15 landlocked countries in Africa.

Vietnam's main regional export markets are significant economies with seaports, such as South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria.

Countries worldwide plan to study, negotiate and sign international trade agreements, especially free trade agreements (FTAs) with the African Continental Free Trade Area.

This will help them save time negotiating with individual countries or regions (Africa currently has 55 countries divided into eight economic areas). According to the ministry, African countries have similar production structures, mainly primary products such as crude oil, raw agricultural products, minerals, and precious metals.

Even if the AfCFTA agreement takes effect across the region, the continent still cannot guarantee the supply of machinery, equipment, rice, textiles, footwear, and processed aquatic products; and still has to depend on imports from foreign countries.

Therefore, there remains enormous potential for Vietnam to export its essential commodities such as rice, coffee, garment and textiles, footwear, and aquatic products to Africa.

Vietnam can increase its exports of textile, leather and footwear products to Africa by promoting competitive advantages such as low labour costs, good sewing techniques, and high-quality products if the nation or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) negotiates a trade agreement with the AfCFTA, the ministry said.

The AfCFTA is the world's largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately $3.4 trillion.

Source: VNS