Connecting Cultures and Commerce: Vietnam’s Golden Autumn Fair 2025

In this feature, WAJ presents three perspectives — from diplomacy, trade, and business — on how Vietnam and Austria are deepening their partnership through green technology, creativity, and shared cultural values.

Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 at the National Exhibition Center in Hanoi. (Photo: Quynh Anh/VN)

1. Green Technology – A Growing Field for Austria–Vietnam Cooperation

Mr. Stefan Stantejsky, Head of ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

WAJ: Austria is renowned for its green technologies, renewable energy, and sustainable solutions. How do you assess the potential for cooperation between Austrian and Vietnamese companies in these fields, with the Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 serving as a bridge for such collaboration?

Mr. Stefan Stantejsky, Head of ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam:  Vietnam’s energy transition and industrial upgrade make it a highly promising partner for Austrian green-tech firms. The country has set ambitious targets for a renewable and low-carbon economy and is actively investing in hydrogen, energy storage, and grid modernization — areas where Austrian companies already offer world-class technologies and project expertise. Austrian firms also lead in water and waste management solutions.

Events such as the Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 provide an ideal platform for Austrian businesses to connect with representatives of Vietnamese ministries and provinces, local partners, and potential customers. Partnerships formed through such trade fairs can play a key role in developing concrete green business joint ventures.

Mr. Stefan Stantejsky, Head of ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee)

2. Expanding Opportunities for Austrian Enterprises in an Open Vietnam

Dr. Dinh Thi Hoang Yen, Commercial Counsellor of Vietnam in Austria

WAJ: The Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 is described as the biggest trade fair in Southeast Asia, merging commerce, culture, and innovation. In your view, what specific opportunities can Austrian enterprises seize by participating, especially as Vietnam–Austria trade relations deepen under the EVFTA framework?

Dr. Dinh Thi Hoang Yen, Commercial Counsellor of Vietnam in Austria: Global market shifts and trade tensions are creating opportunities for both Vietnam and Austria to strengthen their strategic bilateral economic relations. The Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 is a golden opportunity for Austrian companies to enter the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian markets, especially as the EVFTA facilitates tariff advantages and Vietnam is accelerating its industrial transformation.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Austria has grown strongly. According to Vietnam Customs, in the first nine months of 2025, two-way trade reached nearly 2.3 billion USD, up 25.5% year-on-year, with exports nearing 2 billion USD (up 28.7%) and imports at 362 million USD (up 10.5%).

This year, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Austria has supported the Live Forever Young Institute in participating in the Fair, among 20 participating countries, with a booth showcasing functional foods and herbal products made from Vietnamese and Austrian plants. These organic products are completely free from pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and chemical preservatives — a vivid example of how Austria and Vietnam can work together at the intersection of culture, traditional medicine, and sustainable trade.

Dr. Dinh Thi Hoang Yen, Commercial Counsellor of Vietnam in Austria (right). (Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee)

3. Reviving Ancient Wisdom Through Modern Sustainable Enterprise

Mr. Wolfgang Friess, CEO, Live Forever Young, Austria

WAJ: What are your company’s expectations from participating in the Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 — an event that blends trade, culture, and innovation? How does this fair align with your company’s goals for sustainable development and market expansion?

Mr. Wolfgang Friess, CEO, Live Forever Young, Austria: Our company sources the finest plant-based raw materials from rural communities practicing traditional farming. Our finished products are entirely free from chemicals — no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or additives. We hope to inspire and connect with anyone who shares a passion for nutritious products derived from ancient wisdom.

Our aim is to revitalize thousands of years of Vietnamese cultural heritage and Austro-Asiatic herbal medicine. Our mission is rooted in supporting rural communities and ethnic minorities, promoting biodiversity, and advancing traditional farming methods in the most natural way possible.

The land our farmers care for is fertile, with clean water and full of life — birds, butterflies, bees, frogs, and fish all thrive there, enriching and beautifying the farms. This harmony brings health and happiness to those who tend the soil. We welcome any supplier or retailer around the world who shares our passion for Vietnam’s ancient wisdom to join us in this mission.

Mr. Wolfgang Friess, CEO, Live Forever Young, Austria (lelf). (Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee)

The Vietnam Golden Autumn Fair 2025 stands not merely as a trade event but as a rendezvous of innovation, heritage, and sustainability — a space where business, culture, and global cooperation converge.

From Austria’s leadership in green technology to Vietnam’s expanding EVFTA-driven markets, and to enterprises bridging herbal wisdom with modern sustainability, the Fair showcases how international partnerships can transcend commerce — fostering creativity, responsibility, and shared growth.

In this new landscape, Vietnam emerges not just as a “rising market,” but as a source of inspiration — a cultural and ecological partner where the world gathers to celebrate a truly golden season of connection and hope.