Vietnamese exports hold significant potential within Thailand's market, according to a recent conference discussion.
Vietnamese products such as seafood, sweet potato, dragon fruit, coffee, and cooking sauces are poised to gain popularity in Thailand, according to Chailermchai Pornsiripiyakool, head of international corporate affairs and CSR at Central Retail Vietnam.
In 2024, bilateral trade between the two countries reached an impressive $20.26 billion, with Vietnam exporting $7.81 billion worth of goods to Thailand. This significant figure highlights the growing economic relationship between Vietnam and Thailand.
The event has opened up export opportunities and facilitated business-matching activities, enabling seasonal fruits such as lychee, longan, and dragon fruit to be regularly exported to Thailand through Central.
However, to effectively penetrate the Thai market, Vietnamese enterprises must overcome technical barriers, intense competition, and changing consumer preferences. Chailermchai Pornsiripiyakool suggests that businesses looking to enter the Thai modern trade market improve packaging to be attractive, modern, and compliant with international standards and labelling regulations, reflect green trends, offer competitive pricing supported by seasonal promotions, and provide clear product information.
Geographic proximity and strong transport links via the East-West and Southern Economic Corridors have bolstered trade, investment, and logistics ties between Vietnam and Thailand. HCM City aims to continue supporting businesses seeking entry into the Thai and broader ASEAN markets.
Trade agreements such as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership have helped reduce tariffs and enable businesses to build supply and production chains.
Vietnamese businesses can effectively penetrate the Thai market by leveraging bilateral cooperation agreements to facilitate market access, adopting digital transformation and AI-driven marketing to address competitive and changing consumer behaviors, and complying with local technical and regulatory standards with local expertise and strategic partnerships.
Key strategies include:
- Utilizing bilateral trade facilitation and partnership frameworks: Vietnam and Thailand have recently agreed to draft a joint action plan encouraging businesses to expand operations across borders and ensure greater market access for goods, aiming to raise bilateral trade turnover significantly. This partnership also promotes cooperation in emerging fields such as digital transformation, innovation, and green economy, creating opportunities for Vietnamese firms to enter Thai markets under favorable conditions.
- Embracing digital transformation with localized marketing: Thai consumers are highly digitally engaged across platforms like Google, Facebook, TikTok, and LINE, where competition for attention is intense. Vietnamese businesses should adopt AI-powered marketing solutions that focus on predictive analytics, hyper-personalization, platform-specific campaigns, and influencer collaborations tailored to local language, cultural nuances, and regional preferences. This increases relevance and engagement, helping to break through market noise and rapidly adapt to evolving consumer trends.
- Overcoming technical and regulatory barriers via local expertise: Navigating Thailand’s market requires compliance with complex regulations and technical standards. Partnering with local consultants and adopting best practices in e-commerce licensing, data protection, and tax compliance can simplify entry. Vietnamese businesses should also formalize structures to meet local business laws efficiently, ensuring intellectual property protection and cybersecurity compliance.
- Building resilience through supplier validation and quality control: Leveraging Vietnam’s strengths as a sourcing hub, firms can ensure consistent product quality and compliance with Thai and international standards by implementing rigorous vendor management and quality inspections. This helps meet changing consumer demands for higher quality and trustworthy products.
- Enhancing people-to-people and regional connectivity: Supporting sister-province partnerships, tourism cooperation, and leveraging Vietnamese communities in Thailand serves as a bridge for business and consumer relationship-building, essential for understanding and responding to local market preferences.
By combining these approaches—policy engagement, digital transformation, regulatory compliance, quality assurance, and cultural integration—Vietnamese businesses can effectively penetrate the Thai market, surmount technical barriers, and compete amid shifting consumer preferences.
Last November, Central Retail Vietnam and ITPC held the first "Vietnamese Goods Week" in Udon Thani, a Thai province with a large Vietnamese community. Thailand remains Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN, while Vietnam is Thailand's second largest. With over 70 million people, Thailand offers a promising export market.
The two countries aim to grow annual trade to $25 billion, with a focus on balance and sustainability. Thai import regulations require businesses to obtain a food import licence by providing detailed documentation on ingredients and intended use. Specific requirements vary by product type. To succeed in Thailand, Vietnamese businesses must improve product quality, understand consumer trends, and develop long-term strategies.
A cooperation deal for 2026-28 between the ministry's domestic market development agency and the foreign market development department and Central was signed during Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's visit to Vietnam on May 16 to boost production and consumption of Vietnamese goods both domestically and abroad.
In the first quarter of 2025, trade value reached $5.17 billion, up 8.36%. Nearly 500 Vietnamese businesses have showcased their products to Thai consumers since 2016 through the annual "Vietnamese Goods Week in Thailand" organized by Central Retail Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and ITPC.
Vietnam and Thailand form a crucial pillar of their strategic partnership, with robust growth in economic relations.
- Reflecting the growing economic alliance, Vietnamese goods such as seafood, sweet potato, dragon fruit, coffee, and cooking sauces are expected to gain popularity in Thailand, positioning Vietnam as a key exporter.
- To make an effective entry into the Thai market, Vietnamese businesses must overcome technical barriers, intense competition, and changing consumer preferences, by improving packaging, adopting digital transformation, and complying with local technical and regulatory standards.
- Trade agreements like the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership help reduce tariffs and enable businesses to build supply and production chains, fostering a stronger economic relationship between Vietnam and Thailand.
- Leveraging transportation links via the East-West and Southern Economic Corridors, Vietnam can enhance trading, investment, and logistics ties with Thailand, ultimately bolstering bilateral trade.
- In order to expand operations across borders and ensure greater market access, both Vietnam and Thailand are drafting a joint action plan to encourage businesses to cooperate in emerging fields such as digital transformation, innovation, and green economy, further fostering the international business relationship between the two countries.
