Yuichiro Shiotani, General Director of AEON Topvalu Vietnam, speaks at the workshop (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Japan’s large importdemand is a good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to expand their marketshares in the country, as well as access other potential markets through theglobal distribution network of the Japanese group AEON, experts said at aworkshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 23.
Yuichiro Shiotani, General Director of AEONTopvalu Vietnam, said Japan is the world’s third biggest economy with a highimport demand, especially in food, garment-textiles, footwear, seafood, farmproduce, plastic products, and wood.
These are products that Vietnam has advantagesin, he said, adding that AEON, as a leading retail group in Japan, has prioritisedthe import of more made-in-Vietnam goods, particularly apparel products, food,household, and heathcare products, for distribution to its stores andsupermarkets across the globe.
In order to help Vietnamese businesses to jointhe AEON supply chain and become a supplier for the over 1,000 AEONsupermarkets around the globe, the group has built a plan including a number ofactivities to increase the presence of made-in-Vietnam goods, he said.
He added that AEON has also provided technicalsupport to improve the production capability of Vietnamese suppliers and helpthem access Japanese customers, as well as boost the purchase of Vietnamesegoods to sell at its stores in Japan and other countries.
Nguyen Thao Hien from the Ministry of Industryand Trade, said Japan is one of the biggest trade partners of Vietnam, whichmakes up a large proportion of Vietnam’s export turnover of some key productssuch as garment-textiles and aquaculture.
She notedthat the ministry and the Japanese group had signed a memorandum of understandingon supporting the export of Vietnamese products to the market through thedistribution system of AEON. Under the MoU, AEON committed to raising Vietnam’sexport turnover through the group’s system to 500 million USD in 2020 and onebillion USD in 2025.
Hien warnedthat although the import demand in Japan is large, the country has strictrequirements on quality. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses need to improve theirproduction capacity and create highly competitive products. –VNA
VNA
