Customers visit a booth at the VietBaby Trade Fair in Ha Noi on Thursday. — Photo Phuong Thao

More than 120 businesses from seven countries are displaying their wares at the VietBaby Trade Fair in Ha Noi between September 26 and 30.

With a growing population, Viet Nam's fast-growing consumer market and young population makes it a prime destination for international buyers and businesses in the maternity and baby product industry.

According to the organiser, the previous fair in HCM City in June attracted 30,000 visitors.

Tom Paton, CEO of Metro Food, Australia told Viet Nam News that: “The local GDP is growing stably and people are spending more on baby products.”

Population data in Viet Nam says that more than 1.5 million babies are born every year, thus, Viet Nam's maternity and kid's market is understandably both robust and highly competitive. The same statistics also show that 12 per cent of Vietnamese families have a child under one-year-old, the highest figure in Southeast Asia and more than double the global average. A further 19 per cent of households in Viet Nam are home to a toddler, who needs milk, baby food, diapers, clothes and toy.

Paton’s Metro Food Co, a young FMCG brand development business, sells its DHA-enriched baby foods named Bambini via its local importer in Viet Nam. Paton said the market size and demand here is fantastic.

Together with Australia, international brands of baby products in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, HongKong, China and Japan are also displaying their products at the fair.

Last year, local businesses valued the market for mother and child products at US$7 billion. — VNS