A corner of the Cai Mep port cluster. (Photo: Doan Manh Duong/VNA)
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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a very important market and partner of Vietnam in the Middle East.
The year 2024 has witnessed positive developments in the cooperation between the two countries, with an increasing number of large UAE businesses seeking cooperation with Vietnamese partners.
This was the assessment of Vietnamese Ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Thanh Diep in an interview with a correspondent from the Vietnam News Agency in the Middle East-North Africa on the outstanding results in the cooperation between the two countries in 2024, as well as prospects for 2025.
Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Diep clarified that the outstanding result in 2024 was the successful official visit by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the UAE in October 2024, opening up a new phase of economic, trade, and investment cooperation.
The two sides have upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive partnership; signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), aiming to bring two-way trade soon to $20 billion, opening up the potential to increase Vietnam’s trade with the Middle East.
In terms of trade, the total two-way trade turnover in 2024 is estimated at over $6.02 billion, up 28.33% compared to 2023. Vietnam’s exports to the UAE in 2024 increased strongly, with a trade surplus of about $4.48 billion.
The partners have signed 13 investment and business agreements, including an agreement between Viettel Group and G42 Group on data center development, artificial intelligence (AI), and energy transformation; an agreement between Viettel and Presight Group in the field of AI; an agreement between Vietnam Airlines and Etihad Airways on aviation cooperation; an agreement between Vietnam Airlines and Emirates Airlines on aviation cooperation; an agreement between VIMC and DP World on the development of Can Tho port, inland waterway exploitation, and logistics system development; and an agreement between VinGroup and Benya Group on data center development.
The two sides also signed an agreement between VinGroup and NDMC Group on data center development; an agreement between VinGroup and Abu Dhabi Ports on the development of the logistics ecosystem and port system; an agreement between Vinfast and Emirates Driving Company on electric vehicle production; an agreement between Sovico Group and Abu Dhabi Ports on logistics, free trade, and port services; an agreement between Vietjet Air and Emirates Airlines on aviation cooperation; an agreement between T&T Group and Golden Nile on finance, agriculture, and services; and an agreement between FPT Group and G42 on information technology.
Promotion, promotion, and support activities for local and foreign businesses to diversify markets have also been strengthened.
Many delegations from ministries, sectors, and localities of the two countries have visited each other, enhancing understanding and promoting relations. The two countries have organized business forums in the UAE and Vietnam with the participation of hundreds of businesses.
Vietnamese businesses actively participated in Vietnam Week at Lulu Hypermarket (Dubai), the world’s largest food fair Gulfood (February 2024), and the Natural-Organic Products Fair (November 2024).
Vietnamese Ambassador to the UAE Nguyen Thanh Diep. (Photo: VNA)
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Regarding cooperation prospects in 2025, Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Diep said that after the visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the UAE, the UAE has paid more attention and wanted to promote relations with Vietnam.
The UAE Ministry of Investment and a series of large UAE groups have planned to visit Vietnam to promote cooperation in various fields. The signing of CEPA, the first free trade agreement that Vietnam has negotiated with an Arab country in the Middle East-Africa region, will open up tremendous prospects and a new phase of common strategic cooperation in many fields between Vietnam and the UAE.
It is forecasted that in 2025 and the following years, cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, economy, industry, energy, renewable energy, logistics, agriculture and infrastructure, high technology, digital transformation, green transformation, innovation, labor cooperation, etc., will be promoted when the CEPA process opens up. Cooperation in security, defense, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchange will continue to thrive, commensurate with the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.
Assessing the UAE, Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Diep said that this is a unique market. Due to insufficient domestic production to meet consumption, the UAE almost entirely depends on imported goods to serve domestic needs and re-exports. This opens up opportunities for Vietnamese products.
According to the ambassador, the UAE market is highly competitive. Vietnam has some difficulties and disadvantages compared to other countries, such as higher transportation costs due to long distances and differences in needs, culture, language, consumer tastes, and business customs. Moreover, most of Vietnam’s food and beverages do not have Halal certification. The influence of South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan is very significant, as these countries have a large number of citizens in the UAE and share many similarities with the UAE.
Currently, the retail system in the UAE is mainly dominated by Indians and South Asians. In this context, Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Diep has proposed a number of solutions for Vietnamese businesses to best exploit the advantages of CEPA and penetrate the UAE market.
Specifically, Vietnamese businesses need to research and grasp the market, consumer needs, culture, and customs, identify target customers, and choose suitable products for each group of objects, focusing on products with differences and high competitiveness, meeting the tastes of UAE people to create products with the brand of Vietnam.
Businesses also need to understand legal regulations, business customs, import and export regulations, product quality requirements, preferential policies and support for foreign businesses, customs documents, and international certificates, ensuring that products meet the requirements of competent authorities.
Processing tuna products for export at the factory of Ba Hai Joint Stock Company (Phu Yen). (Photo: Vu Sinh/VNA)
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The ambassador said that businesses need to promote their products through participation in international fairs and exhibitions in the UAE such as Gulfood, Arab Health, or GITEX… to approach potential partners and introduce products to a large number of customers. As the UAE has a high rate of Internet and social media usage, businesses need to take advantage of technology and online marketing to promote their brands and reach potential customers.
In addition, businesses need to continuously improve product and service quality to meet market demands, promote innovation and creativity, and update new trends; develop distribution and logistics networks, optimize to reduce costs and transportation time, and enhance competitiveness in the context of the UAE market with fierce competition, dynamic and rapid development.
The ambassador emphasized the importance of persistently building long-term relationships and developing strong networks of partners and customers, as the UAE has a business culture that highly values personal relationships.
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