Viet Nam’s trade with Pakistan set to grow this year
HA NOI (VNS)— The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department for African, West Asian, and South Asian Markets is predicting Viet Nam’s exports to Pakistan in 2013 will slightly increase despite Pakistan’s economic difficulties continuing.
The Department noted that two-way trade turnover between Viet Nam and Pakistan has increased remarkably. Last year, export turnover reached US$174.8 million (up 3.8 per cent on 2011) while import turnover hit $215.8 million (up 38 per cent).
Last year’s slow export growth stemmed from declines in some of Viet Nam’s key export items to Pakistan such as fabrics, pepper, cashew nuts, iron and steel, garments and textiles, and plastics.
Tea products accounted for $45.3 million of export turnover (up 39.3 per cent), seafood $13.5 million (up 36.3 per cent), and rubber $10.2 million (up 161.5 per cent).
The sharp increase in import turnover came from the 53,854 tonnes of cotton imports, triple the quantity and over twice the value of the imports in 2011.
The Pakistani market has great demand for agricultural produce, food, consumer goods and mechanics, equipment and materials
Pakistani consumers do not require strict quality standards, their comparatively low-income earning making price a more important factor.
Vietnamese consumer goods can meet these demands, but some analysts predict that political and economic instability in Pakistan will hinder Vietnamese businesses from increasing exports significantly. — VNS