Hai Duong agricultural products welcome opportunities from EVFTA

Feasibility

Tan Huong Agricultural Processing Joint Stock Company is looking for opportunities to export their products to Europe to enjoy incentives from EVFTA

Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company (Thanh Ha) is one of the few enterprises bringing Hai Duong agricultural products to the EU market. In 2020, nearly 5 tons of lychee  and longan from the province were exported by the company to the Czech Republic by air and then partly transported to Italy for canvassing. According to this company, when the company exported lychee, EVFTA has not come into effect as when longan was exported, it is thus easy to see the advantages that EVFTA brings. With the tax cut to nearly 0%, businesses do not have to hesitate and consider much about the problem of business efficiency. However, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the quantity of goods exported to Europe is not much. In the coming time, the company will consider Europe as a strategic market and a main focus in business orientation. Besides aviation, the company is studying effective preservation measures to export agricultural products to EU by sea, for saving costs and increasing volume.

With incentives from EVFTA, Tan Huong Agricultural Processing Joint Stock Company (Cam Giang) is exploring agricultural exports to this large potential market. Currently, the company has sent products to several European countries to explore the market. According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Menh, the company's representative, the strength of the company is preliminary processing and processing of vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, cauliflower ... to export to traditional markets such as Korea, Malaysia, Thailand. Each year, the company exports about 10,000 tons of agricultural products to these countries. One of the disadvantages encountered by domestic agricultural product exporting enterprises is that they are often dominated by foreign enterprises, especially Chinese ones. Therefore, enterprises are often very cautious about exports so as to limit risks. If finding opportunities for the EU market, the company will expand production scale and improve competitiveness. This not only promotes business development but also helps agricultural products find a firm foothold in the market. “With the existing potentials, we are confident to be able to meet the requirements of the EU partners. The goods that we sent to Europe for canvassing received good feedback. Therefore, the company has high expectations of this market with a large consumption of agricultural products", Mr. Menh said.

Being ready

Hoa Mai Company Limited has not yet built a stable material zone for export

 EVFTA makes the trade conditions of agricultural products to EU countries more open, but the standards on product quality are very strict. EVFTA is only responsible for "paving the way", while Hai Duong agricultural products can dominate European market or not is subject to the capacity of businesses and the quality of their products.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa, Director of Hoa Mai Company Limited (Nam Sach), so far, there has been a pretty "headache" problem for agricultural product export enterprises that there is no stable material supply area. In order to have agricultural products which satisfy export requirements, many companies have to purchase them sporadically from the farmers, then select them for export, so it takes a lot of time and effort. This is the reason why some businesses, though receiving many export orders, do not dare to accept the offer because they are afraid of contract compensation due to insufficient supply of goods. The common feature of the exporters in the province is that they only work with Asian partners, and the EU market is still new to them. Therefore, in order not to "be inferior" to new customers, businesses must carefully study the conditions and regulations on export to EU countries. Thus, it is a must to link up together to build a synchronized export agricultural product zone in terms of design and quality.

Hai Duong is a province of many agricultural products with strong export advantages such as litchi, longan, guava, banana, winter vegetables ... In fact, agricultural products of the province are present in many fastidious markets but the quantity is small, not really commensurate with the inherent potential. Therefore, the value of Hai Duong agricultural products is still unstable, not placed in a worthy position. To overcome this situation as well as to take advantage of the opportunities offered by EVFTA, in 2021, the province will develop an export agricultural product area of ​​1,100 hectares, including 520 hectares for litchi, longan, guava and 580 hectares for vegetables. This shows the  determination of the province to seize export opportunities to big and fastidious markets which have high incentives and values. Hai Duong is getting ready with proactive and methodical agricultural export plans. Building stable and abundant raw material zones is the foundation for the province to invite businesses to invest in production and export of agricultural products to any fastidious market. This preparation step shows that Hai Duong is well prepared to welcome the opportunities from EVFTA, ready to drastically change the organization of production so as to have quality products supplied to the EU market.