Henrik Pontoppidan, Director of S2U Design, shares an insight into exhibitions.
It is exhibition season in Vietnam once again. From 4–11 March, Ho Chi Minh City and its surrounding provinces will host HAWA EXPO and VIFA EXPO, and many international buyers – particularly retailers – are already mapping out a tightly packed visit.
If Vietnam is not yet one of your established sourcing countries, these shows are an excellent entry point. For a growing number of retailers, a first structured engagement with Vietnam has been the start of more resilient supply chains, improved margins, and greater flexibility in product development.
Vietnam is now the 6th largest furniture exporter in the world, up from 13th place just ten years ago – and it is also the fastest growing. Furniture exports rose by 11% in 2024, and in 2025 exceeded USD 17 billion for the first time, according to Vietnam Customs. This is no longer an emerging market story; it is a mature sourcing destination that many retailers are still only partially utilising.
From my vantage point on the ground, this shift is very clear. Across Vietnam, large, modern and highly efficient factories now serve international retailers with demanding requirements around consistency, testing, compliance and lead times. Ten years ago, production was largely workshop-based and manual. What makes Vietnam particularly attractive today is that this new industrial capacity exists alongside a dense network of smaller, more flexible factories – often capable of handling lower MOQs, seasonal programmes, and differentiated ranges that large retailers rely on to stand out.
As always, results depend less on what you see during a few days at a trade show, and more on how well the visit is planned – and what follows afterwards.
This year, planning a Vietnam trade show visit is especially important.
The disruption caused by COVID led to a split between the long-standing organisers, resulting in two separate exhibitions now operating under the HAWA and VIFA brands. In 2026, these shows are scheduled back-to-back across multiple venues:
- HAWA EXPO: 4–7 March at SECC, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (the traditional venue since 2008)
- VIFA EXPO: 8–11 March at two locations – SKY EXPO, District 12 (Ho Chi Minh City), and WTC Expo, Bình Dương Province, approximately 40 km from the city centre
For visiting retailers, this significantly changes the dynamics of a “standard” trade show trip. Instead of one venue and one diary, buyers are now navigating three locations, spread across a large metropolitan area, while trying to see the right suppliers, keep meetings on schedule, and still find time for factory or showroom visits.
Add to this the fact that Tết (Vietnamese New Year) falls late this year, at the end of February. In the weeks leading up to the exhibitions, many Vietnamese factories are focused on year-end targets, audits, and holiday shutdowns. Securing confirmed appointments – and ensuring suppliers are properly prepared – requires earlier engagement than many visitors expect.
In practical terms, a productive Vietnam visit increasingly depends on:
- Filtering suppliers before the show, not on the show floor
- Prioritising exhibitors that genuinely match your retail positioning, volumes and price points
- Ensuring existing suppliers prepare samples, finishes or developments ahead of time
- Combining trade shows with relevant factory visits, without losing days to transport and coordination
Logistics alone can easily consume a disproportionate share of a short visit if routes, timings and expectations are not managed carefully.
This is the type of work I am involved in every day. I spend my time on the ground in Vietnam planning schedules, confirming meetings, visiting factories in advance, checking progress, and separating what looks promising from what will actually perform in a retail environment.
At S2U Design, we support international retailers with design, product development, supplier selection, sampling, and hands-on management in Vietnam. We also help align trade show visits with wider sourcing and development objectives – so that the few days spent here translate into concrete next steps rather than a long list of follow-ups.
If you are visiting HAWA or VIFA EXPO this March, I would be very happy to meet – whether to talk through what you are hoping to achieve in Vietnam over the coming months, or to discuss challenges you may already be facing with existing suppliers or ranges.
Vietnam rewards those who approach it with clarity, preparation and local understanding. Conversations are often the most effective place to begin.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
