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Up to 90 percent of the country's market share for cosmetic products is in foreign hands (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

A group of eight Italian cosmetics producers will visit Vietnam next month to seek local distributors in preparation for their entrance into the Southeast Asian market, according to Marco Saladini, head of the Italian Trade Commissioner.

They include Barex Italiana, TeN Tecnologi A E Natura, Bema Cosmetici, Cosmo Service, Elgon Professio Nal, Punti Di Vista, Renée Blanche and Soco, Saladini said at a meeting on Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Italian firms and local counterparts will discuss business opportunities at two seminars in HCMC on January 18 next year and in Hanoi two days later.

The eight brands’ target customers are medium- and high-income earners in Vietnam as well as stylist Vietnamese youths, according to Saladini.

Aside from a number of well-known Italian cosmetics brands that have set up presence in Vietnam, such as Bvlgari, Giorgio Armani and Versace, a large number of Italian cosmetic producers were also eyeing the potential of Vietnam, the official said.

The country with a population of 86 million attracted the firms for its high demand for cosmetic products and the people’s love for foreign brands, he told The Saigon Times Daily.

In 2008, Italian cosmetics were included in the list of the top ten imported products from Italia to Vietnam with perfume products accounted for the most imported items.

Japan’s business daily Nikkei reported Vietnam’s burgeoning beauty and healthcare market earned an estimated US$120 million in sales in 2009, doubling sales for 2004.

But up to 90 percent of the domestic market share for cosmetic products is in foreign hands, Vietnamese cosmetics manufacturers said at a conference held earlier this month.

Compiled by Hong Nguyen – Vietnews Online

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