Figures released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicate that two-way turnover between Vietnam and Sweden in January reached over 160 million USD, of which Vietnamese exports surged by 99% to roughly 130 million USD compared to the same period from last year. 

Meanwhile, Vietnamese imports from Sweden increased by 12% to 29 million USD against the same period of 2020. 

With advantages gained through innovation and high technology, key Swedish export items to Vietnam include machinery, along with spare parts for the industry and telecommunications sectors. It imports agricultural products, footwear, textile and wooden products from the Vietnamese market. 

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Sweden Phan Dang Duong, mutual trade relations are both complementary and non-competitive, especially in terms of tropical and processed agricultural products that are in high demand in Sweden as well as other EU member states.

At present, Vietnam’s export scale to the Nordic region as a whole remains limited, with the export turnover reaching only 2.5 billion USD. Therefore, there remains plenty of room for growth in the export of key Vietnamese products to this lucrative market.

Most notably, the enforcement of the EVFTA in August 1, 2020, serves to gradually remove barriers and helps to open the door for Vietnamese goods to make greater inroads into the potential Nordic market, especially Sweden. 

Ambassador Duong reveals that in line with the terms of the trade pact, the EU gives Vietnam a quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice with a 0% tax rate per year, whilst also eliminating tax on broken rice over five years.

Thanks to these benefits, the Vietnamese rice has gradually grown a presence in this demanding market, with export turnover increasing from roughly 100,000 USD in previous years to over 1 million USD last year, says Ambassador Duong.