Vinamilk and its partner in Dubai signed a $20 million contract at the Gulfood Exhibition 2020.— VNA/VNS Photo Hang Tran

Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) at the Gulfood Exhibition 2020 signed a contract worth US$20 million with a Dubai partner to export the company’s powdered milk to Dubai.

The export would start from the second quarter of this year.

Vinamilk’s contract was one with the highest value among about 20 Vietnamese firms participating in the five-day exhibition in Dubai, which closed on Thursday.

The Middle East was now a major export market of Vinamilk, which accounted for 75 per cent of the company’s export revenue. Vinamilk was also expanding its business in other Asian countries like Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore and China and most Southeast Asian countries.

Recently, the General Administration of Customs of China also allowed the import of sweetened condensed milk from a Vinamilk plant. However, a representative from Vinamilk said that the export had not started due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) causing difficulties for trade activities.

Vinamilk’s report showed that its export revenue in 2019 increased by 14.8 per cent against the previous year. Since 1997, Vinamilk has exported its dairy products to more than 50 countries and territories with a total revenue of more than $2.2 billion so far.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that participating in the Gulfood Exhibition was a great opportunity for Vietnamese firms to diversify markets as agro-fishery exports were facing difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Organised since 1987, Gulfood Exhibition was one of the three biggest trade shows in the world. This year, the trade show attracted more than 5,000 exhibitors from 193 countries worldwide. — VNS