Sweden brought advanced, future-oriented green solutions to Vietnam FoodExpo 2025, strengthening cooperation between businesses from both countries.
Marcus Persson, Country Director of Business Sweden in Vietnam, spoke with the Industry and Trade Newspaper about this topic.
Great Expectations from Vietnam Food Expo 2025
Vietnam Food Expo 2025 is considered an important bridge between Vietnamese companies and international partners. What does Business Sweden expect from presenting a Swedish pavilion at this event?
Marcus Persson: Business Sweden’s organization of the Swedish national pavilion at Vietnam Food Expo 2025 is a strategic step that reflects clear expectations for strengthening bilateral trade cooperation.
Our main expectations, carried out through the “Try Swedish” food export promotion program, focus on the following objectives:
First, making use of the Free Trade Agreement. Our top priority is to maximize the benefits of the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), especially the gradual removal of import tariffs. This creates a more open market environment for Swedish food and beverage products.
Second, strengthening Sweden’s brand positioning. The event is an opportunity to showcase Swedish food products and advanced food technologies in Vietnam, promoting the quality, innovation, and sustainability of Swedish goods.
Third, establishing business relationships. Business Sweden aims to facilitate direct meetings between Swedish companies and capable distributors, retailers, agents, and import partners in Vietnam. This helps explore business opportunities, import potential, and long-term partnerships.
Fourth, gathering market insights. The exhibition provides a forum for Swedish companies to update the latest trends in food processing, consumer preferences, and food technologies in Vietnam, allowing them to adjust their strategies accordingly.
The presence of the “Try Swedish” program at Vietnam Food Expo 2025 aims to expand export markets, establish strategic partnerships, and take advantage of the favorable trade conditions created by the EVFTA.
Expanding Opportunities for Food Sector Cooperation
Sweden is well known for its clean, green, and sustainable food standards. How do you assess the cooperation potential between Swedish and Vietnamese companies in organic foods and processed foods that meet European standards?
Marcus Persson: Vietnam’s climate and soil conditions are favorable for developing a wide variety of tropical agricultural products, and the country is shifting toward ecological and organic farming. Vietnam is a promising supplier of organic coffee, tea, pepper, cashew nuts, coconuts, fruits, and vegetables. Sweden and the Nordic region are among the world’s top markets for organic and sustainable foods. Sweden is ranked among the top ten countries with the highest per-capita organic consumption.
Swedish consumers have strong awareness of health, environmental protection, and social responsibility. They prefer products with international organic certifications such as EU Organic or the even stricter Swedish KRAV standard, along with certifications for sustainable seafood (MSC) and fair trade.
Vietnam is promoting a green export strategy and the circular economy in food production. According to Business Sweden, in which areas can the two sides strengthen cooperation, for example processing technology, packaging, or the transfer of food safety standards?
Marcus Persson: This is one of the most promising areas for cooperation. Sweden holds world-leading technologies and has already achieved concrete results in Vietnam.
Standards are the key for Vietnamese products to be accepted in Sweden and the EU, where requirements for “green” and “clean” production are extremely high, even beyond basic EU standards. Sweden can cooperate with Vietnam in training and transferring production processes that meet advanced Nordic standards such as the KRAV organic standard and strict requirements on traceability.
Sweden can also partner with Vietnam in developing recycling industries and reducing emissions. These are fundamental pillars of the circular economy, where Sweden has extensive experience in waste management and energy transition.
Diverse Solutions to Connect Businesses
From a trade promotion perspective, what plans does Business Sweden have after Vietnam Food Expo 2025 to continue connecting companies in both countries, such as B2B programs, specialized seminars, or green food investment initiatives in Vietnam?
Marcus Persson: Business Sweden will continue to act as a catalytic bridge, focusing on creating meaningful business interactions through several activities:
Targeted B2B matchmaking programs. We will organize carefully curated one-on-one meetings between Swedish companies with technological solutions (processing, packaging, quality control) and major Vietnamese importers, distributors, and food manufacturers seeking sustainable partners.
We will also organize thematic seminars on standards and green technologies. These activities aim to transfer expertise and technical knowledge, especially in the context of increasingly strict EU export regulations.
In addition, we plan to host in-depth dialogues on meeting high Swedish and EU standards, including the new EU Organic standard, regulations on packaging materials, and requirements related to social and environmental responsibility, for example supply-chain due diligence requirements.
Thank you very much.
On 12 November, the “Try Swedish” pavilion officially opened at booth C5-8, Hall A1, Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City. This initiative was jointly organized by the Embassy of Sweden and Business Sweden, with participation from leading Swedish companies in the food, processing technology, and environmentally friendly packaging sectors.
The event took place within the framework of Vietnam FoodExpo 2025, Vietnam’s largest annual food and beverage exhibition, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade). The Try Swedish pavilion is considered a platform to strengthen cooperation between the two countries’ businesses in developing clean, safe, and low-emission food supply chains.
Phuong Lan (interviewer)