Exploring Opportunities for Vietnamese Businesses in Russia at the Eastern Economic Forum

During a meeting at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Alexander Stuglev, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Roscongress Fund, emphasized the numerous opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to engage with Russia. These opportunities include agriculture, tourism, textiles, as well as more traditional fields like energy. The Roscongress Foundation, founded in 2007 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is responsible for organizing key economic events in Russia.

According to Mr. Stuglev, Vietnam and Russia have several promising sectors for cooperation such as energy, transportation, construction, tourism, fashion and information technology. He highlighted the high demand in Russia for agricultural investments and imports of agricultural products. There is also growth in the tourism industry, infrastructure construction and garment consumption which present opportunities for Vietnamese businesses.

For example, the Russian fashion market is expected to grow significantly with substantial potential for Vietnamese textile and garment exports to Russia. Additionally, Vietnam-Russia trade turnover reached $3.6 billion last year with significant exports of coffee, electronics seafood and rubber from Vietnam while importing coal fertilizer seafood meat and other products from Russia.

The Roscongress Foundation CEO projects that bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia could reach $15-20 billion in the future driven by growing opportunities for cooperation. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association has identified Russia as a major market with efforts to promote and expand their presence in the country while TH Group a Vietnamese agricultural investor has seen success in Russia with large scale dairy farming projects .

Since the signing of Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and Eurasian Economic Union (of which Russia is a member) in 2016 trade between two countries has been on rise . The Roscongress Foundation aims to encourage further investment in Russia particularly in sectors like agriculture ,tourism ,and textiles . The meeting at Ho Chi Minh City was part of a series of international business activities aiming to foster cooperation