The plastic packaging industry is closely connected with goods export, food production, consumer goods and other groups of sectors and is thus on stable growth

The packaging sector is one of the fast growing industry in Vietnam. It is spurred by rising demand for consumer goods and food. In addition, the GDP growth rate in 2015 is forecast to be auspicious (appromixately 6%), which has helped retailing indices retain their revival momentum and impact other supporting industries, including the packaging industry. In addition, opportunities of the packaging industry also lie in the possibility that Bilateral Trade Agreements and Multilateral Trade Agreements such as TPP, Việt Nam – EU can be signed within this year. It is expected that export orders will spike, particularly in sea food and textile, which will lead to a strong growth in demand for packaging products.

These auspicious conditions have helped the packaging sector become one of Vietnam’s strongest developing industries. As assessed by the Vietnam Packaging Assocation, (VINPAS), the packaging sector has grown by an annual average of 15- 20%. Vietnam currently boasts over 900 packaging factories, 70% of which concentrate in southern provinces. The market can be divided into five main areas, including plastic packaging, carton/paper packaging, metal packaging and other groups.

As assessed by the Vietnam Plastic Assocation, the plastic packaging has also seen a boom with an annual average growth rate of 25% over recent years. The plastic packaging sector has seen such robust development thanks to great growth achieved by the food sector. Companies have invested in new production lines and supply a wide variety of advanced packaging, which satisfies stringent food safety and hygiene standards. For instance, packaging adopting compound films can improve preservation capacity, lengthen product usage time with no need for preservatives.

Quite many enterprises have now joined the packaging market with a wide array of products including paper, plastic, metal films and PET bottles. The market has also seen clear segments between enterprises catering to individual clients and bigger rivals which dominate most of major client groups. For instance, Ngoc Nghia, Bao Van are most known for their PET bottles; Tan Tien Plastic and Rang Dong Plastic have dominated the market for environmentally friendly plastic used for packaging, while Tetra Pak (Sweden) and Combibloc (Germany) have grasped most of the market shares in paper packaging for milk, dairy products which have hi-tech requirements.

The packaging sector will enjoy a huge market with Vietnam’s large population and spectacular growth of the consumder goods industry which require packaging. According to economic experts, kinds of packaging and bags will continue to be produced and consumed well in the coming time thanks to their popularity and competitive edges in production costs as it uses less energy, is light-weight, and saves shipping costs, cuts storage room, and particularly yields quick profits. The packaging industry will be more closely partnered with canned food products thanks to ceaseless improvements regarding quality and convenience.