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Exporters sell more but earn less
Vietnamese exporters of major products are selling more but earning less, leading economic experts have said.
Experts said apparel, electronics and seafood industries are Viet Nam's biggest export earners in addition to the leather-shoe and crude oil industries.
However, the competitive ability of most enterprises involved in these areas is still weak because of their low value-added products.
On average, the value of one kilo of Vietnamese export fish fillet is just US$2.5 while a similar product of Germany is sold at 9 euros (Equivalent $13.5), 5.4 times higher than the Vietnamese rate, according to Dr. Luu Minh Duc of the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM).
With such export rates, Vietnamese enterprises made a profit of $0.3 from one kilo, but German exporters earned 3 euros, or $4.5, 15 times higher, Duc said.
Vietnamese exporters were selling more in quantity and less in earnings, he added.
The CIEM says that Viet Nam's seafood exports had dramatic growth for 15 consecutive years, particularly in the last decade.
Seafood became one of the country's four major dollar earners in the 2001-10 period.
In 2010, the country exported $4.95 billion in seafood products, accounting for nearly 7 per cent of the total export value.
However, profits from Vietnamese exports are still very modest. A similar situation is also facing enterprises that export textiles and garments and electronic products, it says.
The manufacture of computers and electronic products for exports is one of Viet Nam's industries with the highest valued added products, with added value averaging 18 per cent, according to the CIEM's estimations.
Tran Quang Hung, general secretary of Viet Nam Electronics Enterprises Association, however, said the added value of Vietnamese enterprises was only 10 per cent, meaning that Vietnamese enterprises' added value stood at the bottom of the value chain.
Eighty per cent of the Vietnamese electronic industry's total $3.59 billion export value in 2010 was from foreign invested enterprises. However, most of these companies had to import most materials and components, which affected profits, Hung said.
For instance, all materials and components that Fujutsu Viet Nam only used for manufacturing their export products were imported, while Panasonic Viet Nam and Sanyo Viet Nam only used carton and foam boxes made domestically.
The country's leading export sector has been the textile and garment industry, with its export value reaching at $11.2 billion, but without corresponding profits.
Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, head of CIEM's Business Environment and Competition Board, said all enterprises involved in production of export apparel products had to import materials and accessories.
Imported materials used at those enterprises accounted for up to between 60 and 70 per cent, resulting in low added value and profits, Anh said.
She said weak competition and brandnames, together with high costs for imports of materials, were the main reasons that Vietnamese companies'export prices were low.
Capital shortage, outdated technology, weak management ability and poor diversification of products and markets were also weaknesses, Anh said.
Other experts at the CIEM said the added value of Viet Nam's major export earners was still low because they still relied on the country's cheap labour sources and the Government's preferential policies, while they lacked professional skills in the industry.
Worse still, many preferential policies were inconsistent and did not encourage enterprises to co-operate with one another to cut costs and improve labour productivity.
To improve the competitive ability of Vietnamese export enterprises, experts suggested creating groups of enterprises involved in the same industry.
vietnamnet, VNS
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