Shoppers at Big C Thang Long supermarket in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

According to the Vietnam International Sourcing 2024 organising board, the purchasers are making detailed procurement lists of those five product groups from potential Vietnamese suppliers.

The Vietnam International Sourcing 2024, slated for June 6-8 in Ho Chi Minh City, expects 10,000 participants, including 300 international delegations from 30 countries and territories.

Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the European-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said that this year, the event has drawn attention from many major distributors and purchasing businesses from all over the world, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, France, England, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Russia, Latvia, Japan, Korea China, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong (China), India, Australia, and New Zealand.

Particularly, with the rebound of the domestic textile, garment, and footwear industries, international businesses’ demand to find partners in this field in Vietnam has increased dramatically since the beginning of the year.

According to the European-American Market Department, among the hundreds of international purchasing delegations expected to "land" in Vietnam in June, many have expressed their desire to find sustainable partners in the fields of textiles, garments, and footwear.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that textile and garment exports in the first quarter of 2024 reached 9.57 billion USD, up 9.1% over the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, the leather, footwear and handbag group in the first three months of this year earned export revenue of 5.69 billion USD, an increase of 10.5% compared to the same time last year.

Sporting goods and equipment, including treadmills, also attract the attention of hypermarket systems and distribution companies who are seeking domestic suppliers. This is also an industry where Vietnamese businesses have many advantages. In last year’s event, some domestic firms signed contract to provide their products to more than 100 shops of Falabella – the biggest retailer in Latin America.

Besides, the group of household appliances and furniture, including products from wood, rubber, plastic, and handicrafts, has continued to receive increasing attention from international buyers.

For example, Mexico's Coppel Group currently needs to import up to 500,000 car tires annually. This famous retailer has also shown special interest in Vietnam's clothes, shoes, technology accessories, and household furniture.

At a recent seminar held by the MoIT for distributors, head of Walmart's new supplier development department in Vietnam Nguyen Duc Trong said that Vietnam is currently a strategic purchasing location for the firm, adding that Vietnam is among the firm’s top five suppliers in the world and the second biggest in Asia. Vietnam supplied goods worth about 7 billion USD in 2023 to the Walmart system with more than 10,500 supermarkets in 19 countries around the world.

Meanwhile, a representative from AEON said that the firm will send its purchasing delegations from Japan, China, Hong Kong (China) and Malaysia to Vietnam for the Vietnam International Sourcing 2024./.