Kevin Gardner, senior director of Walmart Global’s International Corporate Affairs, told Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) last week in an interview that Walmart was a strong advocate of the TPP negotiations from which it could greatly benefit.

The delayed TPP negotiations, which will hopefully be signed next year, are a multilateral free trade pact between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam. Once signed, the pact is expected to cover almost 40% of global gross domestic product.
 

However, Walmart opened a sourcing office in Ho Chi Minh City in late 2013, and its current presence in Vietnam is through this office, which employs approximately 20 people and has relationships with numerous suppliers in Vietnam.

Walmart is sourcing apparel, footwear, homewares, toys and seasonal items from Vietnam.

Establishing “strategic relations with growers and economic groups” is important for Walmart and its customers, and having an office in Vietnam enable it to “more broadly and effectively” operate and better facilitate the identification and selection of suppliers while monitoring the manufacturing process to ensure compliance, safety and quality, Gardner said.

In January 2014, Walmart’s Global Sourcing vice president Bill Foudy came to Vietnam in search of more market opportunities and met with Minister of Planning and and Investment Bui Quang Vinh.