The Vietnam News Agency quoted Hoa as saying that despite the increasingly tight control measures on food safety in Israel, the local importers are seeking ways to boost direct imports of cashew nuts, seafood, tuna, frozen shrimp, squid, soft drinks, textiles, footwear, consumer and household goods, sporting goods and items, and processed and dried fruits from Vietnam.
In the first eight months of 2019, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Israel reached US$ 677 million, in which Vietnam continued to maintain a trade surplus worth US$395.4 million.
Notably, during the eight-month period, footwear exports increased sharply at 27.3% over the same period last year, while 5% broken long-grain fragrant rice, packed in 5kg bags, and packed frozen processed shrimp continue to penetrate and have a stable foothold in the local distribution system.
For the first nine months this year, Vietnam's exports to Israel were estimated at over US$600 million and imports from this market were at about US$160 million.
It is forecast that if there is no major change affecting the market, Vietnam's exports to Israel in 2019 could reach over US$800 million, a slight increase compared to 2018, while imports from Israel would be at about US$250 million for the whole year.
According to Hoa, the structure of imports and exports between the two countries is generally complementary to each other, without direct competition. The goods that Israel needs to import are also Vietnam's key export items, he said.
