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The Vietnam News

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Vietnam exporters target Middle East market

HANOI - Vietnam's export turnover to the Middle East jumped by 40 percent last year and should continue to grow, trade officials said. Dang Ngoc Quang, a trade attache in the United Arab Emirates, said he expected Vietnam's exports to hit US$90 million in 2004. Nguyen Huu Phuc, vice director of the Thai Tuan Textile and Garment Company, said his firm began exporting products to the region in 2002. Its export turnover hit $2.58 million in 2002 and $3.6 million in 2003. Trade with the Middle East accounted for 22 percent of the company's total revenue, he said.

"Thai Tuan's major product is jacquard, a cloth suitable for Islamic clothing," said Phuc. "Cloth exports to these countries are not controlled by quotas, and the tariffs are low." However, Phuc said the market was unstable due to its distance, the high cost of transport and the volatility of the prices, which occasionally dropped far below those in other markets. Quang said some companies that were unable to overcome those hurdles breached their contracts or delivered poor quality products, damaging Vietnam's reputation. A representative of the Vietnam Dairy Product Company said a similar situation once interrupted its exports to the Middle East. However, exports bounced back and the region became one of the company's largest markets, he said.

Quang said Vietnamese rice producers met with stiff competition from Indian producers in 2002. Poor harvests in India helped Vietnamese exporters make inroads into the market in Dubai last year. However, the big question was whether Vietnamese farmers could develop the market, he said, urging Vietnamese businesses to learn more about Middle Eastern markets and promote trade in the region.

Vietnam's exports to the Middle East include cloth, batteries, shoes, plastic utensils, wooden furniture, seafood, handicrafts and vegetables. Its export turnover increased by an average of 35 percent in the past three years.

Asia Times - January 15, 2004.