Export enterprises should be flexible in trade promotion methods

Recovery faster than forecast

At a recent export promotion forum, the eighth annual event organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Andrew Jeffries, country director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said that a faster-than-expected recovery this year is a prerequisite for a strong recovery in global economy and trade ahead in 2022.

He suggested the nation should seize upon this opportunity to boost exports in areas of high demand globally, such as electronics, medical equipment, machinery, garments and textiles, and agro-fishery products.

During the past challenging two years for the global economy, Vietnamese commodity industries have suffered periods of production decline, in which traditional export promotion activities have been limited.

However, exports still enjoyed double digit growth thanks to a timely shift in terms of export promotion in a bid to adapt to the new situation.

Export turnover duly reached US$301.73 billion during the past 11 months, an increase of 18.3% over the same period from last year, with the figure expected to hit US$331.1 billion this year, representing an annual rise of 17.2%.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh stated that in the context of interrupted international movement, the trade industry has implemented a range of new promotion methods. This includes taking advantage of the digital platform to help businesses exploit export orders, especially agricultural products such as lychees, longans, and dragon fruit.

According to Virginia Foote, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Amcham), the country has effectively performed its role in exporting agro-fishery products, garments and textiles, and footwear to the United States.

The pandemic is anticipated to continue impacting the world into next year, requiring each exporter to take into account utilising the digital environment globally in order to seize upon business opportunities, whilst harmonising standards for goods to better exploit different markets.

The signing of 15 free trade agreements (FTAs), in addition to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) coming into effect from January 1, 2022, is effectively supporting Vietnamese trade activities with many major markets.

For example, trade with the EU has been enhanced by the enforcement of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) back in August, 2020.

The past 11 months of the year has witnessed Vietnamese exports to the EU reach US$35.7 billion, an increase of roughly 12%, while imports from the bloc hit nearly US$15.6 billion, up 18.2% over the same period from last year.

Ample room remains for Vietnamese exports

The nation is known to the world as a major exporting country, although its businesses must fully grasp market needs, transform production, and strive to intensify greater investment in technology.

Deputy Minister Khanh noted that trade promotion activities relating to exports still have plenty of room for greater exploitation.

Therefore, businesses need to ramp up trade promotion with green, clean, and quality products as a way of ensuring sustainable development, while building a flexible trade promotion programme and transforming operations based on the digital environment, the Deputy Minister said. Indeed, many businesses have been quite successful with this form.

Data compiled by the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that, the past two years has seen more than 1,000 domestic and international trade promotion conferences held via an online platform.

As a result, over one million online trading sessions have been conducted, whilst hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese businesses have been supported through online trade promotion with domestic and foreign partners.

Ngo Sy Hoai, standing vice president and general secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Viforest), said that the country boasts more than 6,000 wood industry enterprises, of which over 3,000 are involved in the global wood supply chain, including 800 foreign direct investment enterprises.

This year, despite being affected by the pandemic, wood exports still achieved a growth rate of 17% to 20%, raking in US$14.5 billion in the process.

Judging from the reality of trade promotion on the digital platform over the past two years, Mai Hung Dung, vice chairman of the Binh Duong Provincial People's Committee, underlined the necessity of adding more complete regulations on trade promotion in the digital environment as a way of helping businesses to seek markets and customers in a more effective manner in the new context.