ASEAN, which ranks fourth in the world in terms of scale, is a potential market for Vietnamese goods. Experts say that businesses must carefully study the unique needs of each small market and have a good product strategy to increase competitiveness in order to continue to exploit this market well.

According to the General Department of Customs, the total import and export turnover between Vietnam and ASEAN has increased by leaps and bounds since joining the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) in 1996, rising from $5.9 billion in 1996 to $57.5 billion in 2019. Despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam's total import and export turnover reached USD 53.7 billion in 2020, an increase of 9.1 times over 1996, accounting for 9.8% of total turnover. Imports from the country, export quotas Total bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and ASEAN reached 40.9 billion USD in the first seven months of 2021, up 39% from the same period in 2020...

ASEAN is Vietnam's fourth largest trading partner in the world, according to Nguyen Cam Trang, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade); ASEAN is Vietnam's second largest export market in Asia and its third largest import market. Notably, the structure of Vietnam's exports to ASEAN is actively shifting from agricultural and aquatic products, as well as fuels and minerals, to processed and high-tech industrial products. Steels, electronic products and components, devices, phones and accessories, rice, textiles, vehicles and spare parts will be among Vietnam's main exports to ASEAN in 2020. Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore account for approximately 96 percent of Vietnam's ASEAN goods exports.

In fact, because the region has a growing middle class, many similarities in lifestyle, culture, and close geographical distance, Vietnamese products still have many opportunities to penetrate the ASEAN market. According to Nguyen Phuc Nam, Deputy Director General of the Asia-Africa Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), the Thai market favors Vietnamese dried fruits and textile products, while Indonesia and the Philippines require a large amount of generators, water pumps, and telecommunications equipment.

Tran Van Hieu, Director of DACE Vietnam Company (Long Bien district), said this is a market that is not too strict and convenient in terms of transportation and logistics after many years of exporting goods to ASEAN countries. For example, Singapore is an economy without agriculture, so Vietnamese agricultural products and food have many opportunities. With the advantage of being a gateway to the world, where many multinational corporations are concentrated, exporting to Singapore ​helping Vietnamese goods have the opportunity to approach many large customers in the world

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has implemented many synchronous solutions in order to continue exploiting export markets, in which the ASEAN market has a large space and a population of nearly 700 million people. Currently, the Ministry is closely coordinating with localities and businesses affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, with a focus on disease control, as well as removing production and business barriers and connecting with partners.

In the long run, according to Nguyen Cam Trang, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department, the ministry focuses on training the business community to understand and properly apply the rules of origin in order to benefit from the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement's incentives. At the same time, promote cooperation mechanisms so that the ASEAN economic community can form linkage chains in production, consumption of goods, enhancing investment attraction. The Ministry is actively implementing solutions such as revitalizing trade promotion activities, connecting Vietnam-ASEAN supply and demand in an online environment, simplifying administrative procedures, and implementing import and export administrative procedures through the National Single Window and an ASEAN Single Window.

Businesses must actively understand the needs and specific requirements of each country in order to have an effective approach to the ASEAN market, according to a representative of the Asia - Africa Market Department. "Because the goods of Vietnam and ASEAN countries have many similarities, enterprises need to focus on processing to make a difference and excel in product quality, thereby increasing competitiveness and penetrating deeper into this potential market," said Tran Van Hieu, Director of DACE Vietnam Company.