Trade promotion targets local consumption

Cancelling, delaying projects

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency will cancel or delay 49 projects under the national trade promotion program this year, including large international fairs and exhibitions on agricultural products, food, seafood, textiles and footwear at home and abroad, and major international trade events in Vietnam and the region. In the long term, this will have a negative impact on export turnover in particular and the economy in general, preventing access to markets and customers, introduction of products and signing of contracts with partners.

Vu Ba Phu, director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, said that although the interruption in trade promotion activities could be offset in the second half of the year, it will put pressure on organizing promotion activities, limiting the participation of businesses.

Due to the spread of Covid-19, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency has cancelled some activities scheduled for the first six months of the year in order to divert funding to other projects, especially support for domestic consumption.

The agency has also encouraged localities, businesses and trade promotion organizations to develop online marketing measures, including trade promotion activities on digital platforms, developing e-commerce activities and boosting the application of information technology for their operations. In addition, the agency has strongly enhanced online export promotion programs and online trade links between Vietnamese businesses and import partners.

Groups of solutions

Forecasts and the latest developments suggest the picture of Vietnam’s trade in the first half of the year will not be bright. To overcome difficulties for businesses, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has devised groups of solutions, especially those to stimulate consumer demand and seek export markets for Vietnamese goods.

The first is to develop the consumer market. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will bring fresh farm produce into supply chains and organize market-days to bring agricultural products to export processing zones and urban areas.

The ministry will provide Vietnamese trade offices abroad with a list of target markets and goods with high export potential compiled by localities and commodity associations. Those offices will then provide market information for importers and distributors in foreign countries, especially in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will cooperate closely with the Vietnamese Trade Office in China to resume trade promotion activities after the pandemic ends. To make good use of free trade agreements, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency in coordination with Vietnamese trade offices and commercial counselors abroad to utilize export opportunities and propose suitable trade promotions.

The second goal is to improve the competitiveness of businesses and products. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to promote GlobalGAP standards in farming, encourage producers to apply harvest and post-harvest methods and techniques, and raise technical standards on quality and deep processing for Vietnam’s export products.

The ministry will also strengthen information dissemination to help businesses understand and meet the technical requirements of export markets.

Vu Ba Phu recommended that domestic businesses be more active in taking advantage of incentives offered by the state, apply information technology and develop e-commerce activities to reach out to customers.

The Covid-19 pandemic, Phu said, provides numerous opportunities for domestic businesses to reorganize and restructure input material and export markets.