Cambodian consumers favour Vietnamese products
Two Vietnamese product fairs have been held at the border gates of Khanh Binh and Tinh Bien, says Vu Kim Hanh, director of Vietnam’s Business Studies and Assistance Centre (BSA).
At the fairs, co-organised by BSA and the An Giang Provincial Centre Trade Promotion and Investment, Cambodian consumers had the opportunity to buy high-quality Vietnamese products.
In addition to trade promotion activities, Vietnamese businesses offered gifts to poor children and provided free healthcare services to Vietnamese and Cambodian people.
In order to meet consumer demand for goods in the region, BSA will work with the provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc to hold 10 fairs to bring Vietnamese products to the Vietnam-Cambodia border areas.
The organizers hope Vietnamese businesses will take advantage of assistance from local Cambodian authorities in developing their distribution networks.
The border fairs are also part of the preparation for a larger-scale Vietnamese product fair which will take place in Cambodia in April 2010.
A survey conducted in Phnom Penh, Battambang and Takeo (Cambodia) in August, 2009, indicated that that some Vietnamese products like spices, processed foods, household plastic products, and leather products are more in demand than competing Chinese and Thai products, holding a 33-39 percent market share.
In the future, Vietnamese businesses are expected to gain even bigger market shares in Cambodia if they can improve the quality of their products, lower their prices and increase their advertising.