According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in 2024, bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the Russian Federation reached 4.59 billion USD, an increase of 26.4% compared to 2023. Of which, exports reached 2.34 billion USD, an increase of 34.5%; imports reached 2.25 billion USD, an increase of 19%. The trade surplus with the Russian Federation reached about 90.3 million USD.

Assessing the above results, the Vietnam Trade Office in the Russian Federation commented: “These figures show a strong recovery in trade between the two countries despite many difficulties in transportation and payment”.

In 2024, many export groups continued to maintain high growth rates such as: Seafood reached 231.4 million USD (an increase of nearly 70% compared to 2023); rice reached 7.8 million USD (up 134% in value and 112% in volume); confectionery and cereal products reached 34.6 million USD (up 126%); textiles reached 762.5 million USD (up 55.6%); wood and wood products nearly 5 million USD (up 42.6%); machinery, equipment, tools and other spare parts reached more than 240 million USD (up 44.6%); iron and steel of all kinds reached 1.2 million USD (up 144% in value and 203% in volume).

Notably, some items grew strongly due to the increase in market prices such as pepper reaching 33.3 million USD (up 72.5% in value, up 10.7% in volume), coffee reaching 306.2 million USD (up 25% in value, down 23% in volume), rubber reaching 45.4 million USD (up 45.1% in value, up 17.5% in volume).

Exports of all kinds of footwear in 2024 reached 15.4 million USD (down 25.4%); ceramic products reached 1.26 million USD (down 31.1%); rubber products reached 7.6 million USD (down 28.6%), computers, electronic products and components reached 18.5 million USD (down 36.3%).

On the contrary, Vietnam imports a lot of products from Russia for production, especially maintaining high growth momentum for many consecutive months such as fertilizers reaching 228.6 million USD (up 73% in value and 89.7% in volume); coal of all kinds reaching 913.2 million USD (up 7.7% in value and 23.4% in volume); chemicals reaching 102 million USD (up 93.4%); paper of all kinds reaching 12.4 million USD (up 103%).

Some imported goods have grown dramatically compared to 2023 such as wheat reaching 139.3 million USD (up 149%); other petroleum products reaching 13.1 million USD (up 379%); auto components and spare parts reaching 21.3 million USD (up 125%); other means of transport and spare parts reaching 11.1 million USD (up 127%).

Notably, imports of all kinds of gasoline and oil in 2024 reached more than 345 thousand USD, an increase of nearly 15 times compared to the total value and more than 20 times higher in import volume in 2023.

Groups of goods with sharp import reductions include: Iron and steel of all kinds reaching 564 thousand USD (down 45.2%); iron and steel products reaching 28.7 million USD (down 34.1%); electric wires and cables reaching 437 thousand USD (down 43%); complete automobiles of all kinds reaching 16.4 million USD (down 42.8%); raw plastic materials reaching 100.9 million USD (down 5%); rubber reached 32.1 million USD (down 6.5%) compared to 2023.

However, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in the Russian Federation, in 2024, despite achieving a good growth rate, the trade turnover between Vietnam and the Russian Federation is still low compared to the 5.5 billion USD level in 2021.

Currently, trade between the two countries accounts for a small proportion of the total foreign trade turnover of each country, with about 0.6% for Vietnam and 0.8% for Russia.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that in 2025, it is necessary to promote bilateral trade to a higher level. Vietnamese enterprises need to take advantage of opportunities from the Free Trade Agreements that Vietnam has signed, especially the Vietnam – Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (Vietnam – EAEU FTA), in which Russia is a key member.

The Vietnam – EAEU FTA has been effective since October 2016, and many tax lines have been cut and reduced, but the rate of utilizing certificates of origin (EAV form) by Vietnamese enterprises when exporting to Russia has not been fully exploited.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recommends that, in order to expand the Russian market, enterprises need to take advantage of the tariff reduction roadmap of the Agreement, especially for Vietnamese product groups with competitive advantages such as coffee, fruit, tea, pepper, etc.

At the same time, it is necessary to establish more active interactions between enterprises of both sides, including organizing regular exchanges at business forums, participating in fairs and exhibitions. In addition, opening representative offices, establishing enterprises, and researching more clearly about the consumption habits of Russian people, thereby having more suitable and effective business strategies.