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Turkey is a transit place to the EU for many of Vietnam’s main export products such as rice, furniture, rubber, and textiles.

The Trade Promotion Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, assessed that Turkey is a market with a large economic scale, vibrant foreign trade activities, and high consumer demand with a population of nearly 84 million people. Turkey's economy ranks 6th in Europe, 16th in the world and belongs to the group of the 20 largest economies in the world.

This country has a strategic position on the trade route between Asia, Europe, and Africa. Turkey is considered a potential market, an important gateway to the Middle East, and a transit point into the EU market for many of Vietnam's main export products such as rice, milk and dairy products, pepper, furniture, rubber, tea, yarn, fabric, garments, footwear, electronic goods, handicrafts, equipment, and spare parts.

Currently, Turkey is Vietnam's second-largest export market in West Asia, only behind the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The bilateral trade balance between Vietnam and Turkey in recent years has been in surplus in favor of Vietnam.

However, the proportion of Vietnam's exports in Turkey's total imports is low, only about 0.5%.

Many of Vietnam's products exported to Turkey account for a small proportion, lower than those of direct competitors, except for pepper, cashew nut, fiber, and rubber.

Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that in the first two months of this year, Vietnam's export turnover to Turkey reached US$189 million, up 16.3% over the same period last year. According to experts, Turkey is a developed country with many similar main industries as Vietnam, however, its production costs are higher.

In particular, this market has stiff competition from import sources due to its geographical location between three continents and close proximity to Europe. Meanwhile, local businesses are quite active, always looking for supplies with competitive costs to reduce production costs. Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises must be competitive in terms of cost, price, ensure their quality in accordance with the market's technical standards, to penetrate this market easily.

To provide updated information on the market situation, regulations, standards, import and export conditions of the Turkish market for products including pepper, cashew nut, rubber, fruit, and handicrafts, on March 30, 2022, the Vietnam Trade Promotion and Trade Office in Turkey will hold an export consultation session for the Turkish market.

The event will be held in Hung Yen city, Hung Yen province, in combination with an online form on the Zoom platform, and disseminated on the Facebook fanpage of the Department of Trade Promotion.

Le Phu Cuong, Commercial Counselor of Vietnam in Turkey, said that the Trade Office connected and invited speakers who are representatives of important importers in Turkey including Donmezler Spices Co., Ltd. producing agricultural products and spices; IDEAL Agricultural Products Co., Ltd (VERITA) producing fresh fruits; and VT Travel and Trade Company producing handicrafts to share information on penetration requirements, market opportunities, exchanging import and export experiences for Vietnamese businesses participating in the Consulting Session.

According to Cuong, Vietnam needs to encourage domestic enterprises to participate in trade promotion programs in the area, participate in transactions, promote, and introduce products at large-scale fairs and exhibitions in Turkey to enhance business cooperation opportunities with Turkish processing and distribution enterprises.