Joseph Nelson, trade commissioner of New Zealand, believes the nation can be viewed as a "frontier market" which presents many new opportunities and fresh challenges to Kiwi exporters seeking to diversify.
"As Vietnam has come out of its COVID-19 waves, we are seeing a really strong bounce back in the economy. GDP is expected to be between 6.5% to 7.5% next year," he says.
The Vietnamese economy is currently one of the strongest in the region largely due to its competent management of COVID-19. A recent Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade report has highlighted how the country has grown significantly in the space of a single generation, rising from being one of the poorest countries in the world to an "almost" middle-income country.
The report prepared by the New Zealand High Embassy in Hanoi notes that Vietnamese growth has surpassed many of its closest neighbours.
"Between 2016 and 2021 Vietnam led ASEAN in terms of growth per capita... this growth rate is higher than that of other major ASEAN markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, or the Philippines," the report said.
The New Zealand news publication also quoted Warrick Cleine, managing partner of KPMG Vietnam, as saying that since free trade agreements were signed between New Zealand and Vietnam the value of two-way trade has grown significantly to reach approximately US$2 billion this year.
In line with this, Cleine believes that there are three key things in the Vietnamese market that will prove to be attractive to New Zealand businesses, "One is that consumer market... two is that geo-politically it is in a less dangerous place... and Vietnam has a great free-trade network."
At present, food and beverage products make up almost 75% of New Zealand’s exports to the nation, with there being a huge appetite for more, particularly as consumers there have become more health conscious in the post-pandemic period.
Furthermore, Paul Harvey, head of global foodservice of Fonterra, says the addition of butter has made for a "great flavour and taste" and has the "added benefits of health and wellness".
While Fonterra is a big company, Harvey says the Vietnamese markets is not only for well-established businesses.
"I'd suggest to other companies thinking about their expansion strategy to look to Vietnam. It is a country sizeable in size, easy to do businesses, and consumers are looking for innovation," he says.
"The Government has handled COVID-19 well; fiscal policy has been strong; inflation is still in check; consumer spending is on the rise; borders are open again - so it's a great opportunity now for people to be thinking about this country," he added.
