An analysis of the comparative advantage of Vietnam’s agri-product exports to EU

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the comparative advantage of Vietnam's exported agricultural products to the EU market and analyze the stability and trend of comparative advantage in the period 2003-2018. The results show that: (i) Vietnam has comparative advantage and specialization in the agri-product exports with HS codes in tax systems, which includes: Coffee, tea, mate and spices (HS09); Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons (HS08); Fish and meat products (HS03, HS16); (ii) Agricultural products with comparative advantage but without specialization for exporting are Products of the milling industry; malt; starches; inulin; wheat gluten (HS11); Preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk; pastrycooks’ products (HS19); Miscellaneous edible preparations (HS21); (iii) Specialized agricultural products for export without comparative advantage are mainly vegetables and products from vegetables, fruits, seeds and grains; (iv) Agricultural products without comparative advantage or specialization in exporting are mainly processed foods. Moreover, Vietnam's agricultural products exported to the EU have the compara-tive advantage convergence pattern over the period, and those with weak comparative advantage increases in the beginning while those with strong comparative advantage decreases at first. From the results of quan-titative analysis, the study has policy implications to promote the comparative advantage and the export strategies for each group of Vietnam’s agricultural products.