Implementing the National Trade Promotion Program 2025 approved by the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) and the Trade Promotion Agency - Ministry of Industry and Trade organized a business delegation to carry out national trade promotion activities in Australia from September 6 to September 14, 2025. The delegation included 12 enterprises and 2 VINACAS leaders. Mr. Dang Hoang Giang - General Secretary of VINACAS was the Head of the Delegation (TUQ, Chairman of VINACAS). Participating in supervising the delegation was Mr. Tran Ngoc Hai - Head of Planning and Finance Department of Trade Promotion Agency (Representative, TUQ, Director of Trade Promotion Agency). Since the 1990s, the first shipments of cashew nuts were exported to the Australian market. Since then, Vietnamese agricultural products including cashew nuts have penetrated deeper and deeper into the Australian market. Cashew nut export output from Vietnam to the Australian market is increasing. If in 2010 and 2011, the value of cashew nut exports to Australia was only a few million USD/year, then in 2024, Vietnam exported 15.2 thousand tons of cashew nuts of all kinds to Australia with an export value of 84 million USD; Australia accounts for about 2% of Vietnam's cashew nut export market share and holds the 10th position out of 122 export markets in 2024; Vietnam also accounts for a dominant market share (over 90%) of cashew nuts imported to Australia. Australia is a large cashew nut consumer market with development potential as people's income and living standards are very high and stable, so this is a market for high-quality, high-grade cashew nut products. In terms of per capita consumption, Australia is the country with the largest per capita consumption of nuts and cashew nuts in the world. This is a market with consumer culture characteristics similar to the US and Europe with increasingly high demands on quality standards and food hygiene and safety, traceability, and selling prices in this market at a fairly high level or higher. The market favors a number of deeply processed products with high value added content such as roasted, fried, spiced cashews, honey, and organic cashews from Vietnam. Along with the increasingly developed political, diplomatic, and economic relations between Australia and Vietnam, maintaining and developing exports to the Australian cashew nut consumption market is one of the important goals of the Vietnam Cashew Association and Vietnamese cashew production and trading enterprises; this is considered an important direction to maintain the traditional market, expand the consumption market for processed products with high value added content, with large output, good and stable prices, increasing the commercial value and brand of Vietnamese cashew nuts in the international market. Vietnam and Australia have a special relationship: Vietnam and Australia are currently joint members of at least 3 free trade agreements (FTAs). While the CPTPP and AANZFTA Agreements help reduce tariffs, the RCEP Agreement helps businesses take advantage of rules of origin requirements. This helps export growth between Vietnam and Australia to always be high. Vietnam is one of Australia's largest trading partners and is one of the leading agricultural exporters to the Australian, New Zealand and Oceania markets. The key objectives of the Australian National Programme for Trade Promotion by 2025 are to: Organized 2 seminars and meetings with Australian cashew nut customers in Sydney and Melbourne, thereby finding opportunities for cooperation and trade development between Vietnamese cashew producers and processors and potential Australian customers. In order to promote the Vietnamese cashew brand, the achievements and innovations in processing technology, thereby having a comprehensive and accurate view of the Vietnamese cashew industry. Thereby, customers can see the development potential, as well as the processing and export capacity of the Vietnamese cashew industry, especially the goals of "cleaner production", "inclusive business, sustainable production (ESG)", the processing and export capacity of the Vietnamese cashew industry, the development according to the world's consumption trends, creating the premise for moving towards direct purchase contracts with large Australian retail, fried and supermarket corporations, approaching the final endusers of Australia. Find many large importers, distributors, roasters, and retailers, share information between the two sides about the quality and taste of Vietnamese cashew products. Receive opinions, answer questions and suggestions from customers to have the best measures and solutions to harmonize and strengthen the relationship between buyers and sellers. The most common goal is to increase the export turnover of cashew nuts to Australia and the Oceania region, increase production and business efficiency for Vietnamese cashew nut processing enterprises. Promote and focus on buying and selling high value-added cashew nuts, organic products including: salted fried cashews, butter roasted cashews, seasoned cashews, honey, cashew candies. Market research, research, and grasp the latest information on the Australian dried fruit industry, especially on the counterweight nuts (with the ability to replace) cashew nuts that Australia has strengths in (macadamia, chestnuts, almonds, etc.). The delegation attended the Fine Food Australia Fair (https://finefoodaustralia.com.au) held at ICC Sydney - Sydney City - one of the leading trade events of the food industry in Australia, taking place from September 8 - 11, 2025. The event has been organized for more than 40 years, bringing together hundreds of experts, businesses and organizations in the food sector from Australia and internationally. This is a good opportunity for cashew businesses to visit, learn about market trends, connect and expand cooperation with potential partners. (Ms. Pham Thi Thuy - Deputy Head of Delegation - Head of Finance Department of VINACAS) Some main activities of the Trade Promotion Delegation in Australia from September 6-14, 2025. a) Vietnam - Australia Cashew Nut Trade Conference 2025 The conference took place in two cities, Sydney (September 8, 2025) and Melbourne (September 12, 2025) under the national program on trade promotion, led by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency and the Vietnam Cashew Association. The conference was a great success with the support of the Embassy of Vietnam in Australia, the Consulate General of Vietnam in Sydney, the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia and Vietnamese and Australian partners and businesses: - The B2B conference in Sydney was attended by 20 delegates, representing organizations and businesses importing and roasting cashews in Australia, along with the Vietnamese business delegation - VINACAS and the Trade Promotion Agency. The event was attended and delivered by Ms. Belinda Neville - Director of Nuts for Life (Australia) , an organization that brings together the largest importers of nuts and cashews in Australia. In her presentation, Ms. Neville updated the latest information and consumer trends, and shared about Nuts for Life's programs and activities to promote, maintain and develop the habit of using healthy foods. At the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh - former Chairman of VINACAS - gave a speech and introduced the book "Cashew Country Story". In this work, he mentioned a typical business family of the "Kangaroo" country - the family of Mr. John Waring and his descendant, Mr. Michael Waring, former Chairman of INC - who have made many contributions to the investment and development of the cashew and macadamia industry in Vietnam. On this occasion, Mr. Thanh also respectfully presented the first edition of the book to Mr. Tran Ngoc Hai, representative of the Trade Promotion Agency. - The B2B seminar in Melbourne gathered about 30 delegates representing organizations and businesses importing and roasting cashews in Australia, along with the Vietnamese business delegation - VINACAS and the Trade Promotion Agency. The event was honored to have the presence and opening speech of Ms. Tran Thi Thanh My - Deputy Consul General of Vietnam in Sydney, Trade Counselor of Vietnam in Australia. Ms. Belinda Neville - Director of Nuts for Life (Australia), whose members are the largest importers of nuts and cashews in Australia, continued to attend and share valuable information. In her presentation, Ms. Neville updated the latest consumer trends, and introduced Nuts for Life's programs and activities to promote healthy food habits, beneficial to the business communities of the two countries. The workshop also recorded typical presentations from businesses on both sides, including: Tan Long Group, Thao Nguyen Company (representing Vietnamese cashew businesses), Thang Loi Company (representing Vietnamese multi-industry businesses) and Scalzo Company (representing Australian cashew businesses).. Through that, the Delegation had more information about the Australian market - this is the world's largest market for consuming nuts and cashews in terms of per capita consumption (data compiled by INC/Scalzo). Enterprises in the Delegation also listened to sincere sharing from customers to find solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles in quality management and contract implementation in the coming time. - At both seminars above, enterprises of the two countries met directly to have specific contracts and agreements on buying and selling cashews and related products after the seminar (for immediate and long-distance delivery); Vietnamese enterprises learned about the market, investment, technology, processing equipment and many other cooperation contents with Australian enterprises. Leaders of the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia and Associations also directly exchanged, answered questions and provided information to enterprises of the two countries. - Representatives of VINACAS and Nuts for Life Organization had exchanges, moving towards long-term cooperation; After the trip, the VINACAS Office will propose to sign a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations to support the development of the cashew and nut industries of the two countries in the coming time, especially to support the enhancement of deeper awareness of the nutritional value of nuts and cashews, and the development of the domestic consumer market of Vietnam in particular and the world in general. b) On the morning of September 10, 2025, the Delegation visited and worked at the Embassy of Vietnam in Australia. The Delegation was received by Mr. Nghiem Xuan Hoa - Deputy Ambassador and Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tuan - First Secretary. Mr. Nghiem Xuan Hoa - Deputy Ambassador gave an overview of the trade relations in general and the cashew industry in particular between Vietnam and Australia to the delegation. Mr. Dang Hoang Giang - General Secretary of VINACAS - Head of the working group introduced an overview of the Vietnamese cashew industry, the group's goals in developing the market in Australia as well as introducing opportunities and finding partners from Australian businesses to promote the export of high value-added cashew products, organic cashew products, purchasing equipment for processing lines of high value-added cashew products and Australia's experience in developing effective and sustainable raw material areas. The members of the group also asked and were fully and clearly answered by Mr. Hoa on a number of issues of interest to the members. The group respectfully offered incense to President Ho Chi Minh at his shrine in the grounds of the Embassy. c) During their stay in Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne, with the guidance and introduction of the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia and Australian partners and businesses, the group surveyed the wholesale and retail markets for nuts in general and cashew nuts in particular in these localities. In particular, the largest supermarket chains in Australia that the delegation surveyed include: Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Kmart, Target. And Vietnamese mini-supermarket systems in Vietnamese residential areas. The goal is to survey the market, learn and grasp the latest information on the Australian dried fruit industry, especially the counterweight nuts (with the ability to replace) with cashew nuts that Australia has strengths in (macadamia, chestnuts, almonds, ...). In general, this is a market with very good prices but also very competitive with many retail brands on the market. Australian consumers' requirements for quality and food safety are very high. Australia has quite strict control over imported plant and animal quarantine and goods can be returned if they violate Australian import regulations. d) The delegation attended the Fine Food Australia Food Fair (https://finefoodaustralia.com.au) held at ICC Sydney - Sydney City - one of the leading trade events of the food industry in Australia taking place from September 8 - 11, 2025. The event has been organized for more than 40 years, gathering hundreds of experts, businesses and organizations in the food sector from Australia and internationally. This is a good opportunity for cashew businesses to visit, learn about market trends, connect and expand cooperation with potential partners. e) During the delegation's stay in Melbourne, the delegation met with businessmen who have done cashew work in Vietnam through investment in Australia; met and exchanged with Vietnamese - Australian businesses; The delegation also visited the Vietnam - Australia Business Association and the Trade Promotion Center - Vietnamese Goods Showroom in the Vietnamese area and the Center's warehouse and yard system in Melbourne (where many products, including cashew nuts, are displayed here). g) On the sidelines of the activities, the delegation visited Australian fruit and nut gardens to learn about Australian agriculture, including the model of combining home gardens and tourism activities. There, the delegation experienced manually separating macadamia nuts (the counterpart of cashew nuts) right in the garden and listened to the sharing of local farmers about cultivation techniques, growing valuable local agricultural products. In short, at the 2 cashew nut trading seminars in Sydney and Melbourne, along with the activities on the sidelines of the seminars, the Trade Promotion Program achieved its initial goals, which were: - Promoting the Vietnamese cashew brand, achievements and innovations in processing technology, thereby having a comprehensive and accurate view of the Vietnamese cashew industry. Through that, customers can see the development potential, as well as the processing and export capacity of the Vietnamese cashew industry, especially the goals of "cleaner production", "inclusive business, sustainable production (ESG)", the processing and export capacity of the Vietnamese cashew industry, the development according to the world's consumption trends, creating the premise for moving towards direct purchase contracts with large Australian retail, fried and supermarket corporations, approaching the final endusers of Australia. - Find many large importers, distributors, roasters, retailers, and share information between the two sides about the quality and tastes of Vietnamese cashew products. - Receive opinions, answer questions and recommendations from customers to have the best measures and solutions to harmonize and strengthen the relationship between buyers and sellers. The most common goal is to increase cashew export turnover to Australia and the Oceania region, increase production and business efficiency for Vietnamese cashew processing enterprises. - Promote and focus on buying and selling cashew nuts with high added value, organic products including: salted fried cashews, butter roasted, spiced, honey, cashew confectionery. - Attend the Fine Food Australia Food Fair (https://finefoodaustralia.com.au) held at ICC Sydney - Sydney City - one of the leading trade events of the food industry in Australia taking place from September 8 - 11, 2025. Cashew industry enterprises visited, learned about market trends, connected and expanded cooperation with potential partners. With careful preparation by VINACAS and the Trade Promotion Agency, the direction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the assistance and close and effective coordination of the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, the Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia, and the support of many other organizations and the efforts of Vietnamese enterprises participating in the Delegation, the cashew industry trade promotion activities in the Australian market, under the National Trade Promotion Program 2025 directed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, were successful. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Implementing the National Trade Promotion Program approved by the Minister of Industry and Trade in Decision No. 4057/QD-BCT dated December 31, 2024, under the direction of the Standing Committee - Executive Committee of the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS), the VINACAS Office and Trade Promotion Board have urgently deployed preparations for the activity "Organizing a trade promotion delegation in the Australian market". During this process, VINACAS has received enthusiastic and effective support and assistance from many agencies, organizations and individuals. The first place that the VINACAS Standing Committee and Office contacted was the Embassy, Consulate General and Trade Office of Vietnam in Australia and a number of other organizations, businesses and partners of VINACAS in Australia. Fortunately, at the right time, VINACAS organized a delegation to Australia to attend theFine Food Australia(https://finefoodaustralia.com.au) held at ICC Sydney - Sydney City - one of the leading trade events of the food industry in Australia, taking place from September 8 to 11, 2025. The event has been organized for more than 40 years, bringing together hundreds of experts, businesses and organizations in the food sector from Australia and internationally. This is a good opportunity for cashew businesses to visit, learn about market trends, connect and expand cooperation with potential partners. VINACAS has coordinated with the Embassy, Consulate General, and Trade Office of Vietnam in Australia to organize:Vietnam - Australia Cashew Nut Trade Seminar in Sydney City on September 8, 2025.Next,the Vietnam - Australia Cashew Nut Trade Meeting will take place in City. Melbourne on September 12, 2025. With the introduction of Australian partners, VINACAS considered and selected an event organization company that has successfully organized many conferences, seminars, investment and trade promotion for localities, associations and Vietnamese enterprises in the Australian market. VINACAS Office, Trade Promotion Board has also connected with a number of organizations, businesses, experts, partners, customers and received enthusiastic support, especially the leading Australian dried fruit and cashew nut group -Scalzo Foods IndustriesNuts forLife organizationof Australia. Other related information and logistics work has been carried out by VINACAS Office, Trade Promotion Board with close coordination with professional and experienced units in Australia and Vietnam. In particular, VINACAS received support, coordination and assistance from the Trade Promotion Agency - Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam throughout the process of proposing, reviewing, approving and implementing this activity. With the great and specific support of prestigious and experienced organizations and individuals, along with the efforts of the Standing Committee, Executive Committee, Office, and Trade Promotion Board of VINACAS, we believe that the activities of the Trade Promotion Delegation in Australia, under the National Trade Promotion Program chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam in September 2025, will be a great success. Taking this opportunity, on behalf of the Standing Committee and Executive Committee of the Vietnam Cashew Association, I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the groups and individuals who have actively supported the program./. (Pham Van Cong - Chairman of VINACAS)