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Businesses urged to tap domestic market amid recession
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu has urged businesses to focus on the domestic market to stimulate consumer demand and maintain the country’s economic growth.
Tu made the call when chairing a meeting in Hanoi on April 22 to prepare for this year’s domestic market and trade promotion programme that will be held from April 27 to May 3.
The MoIT plans to launch a “Vietnamese Commodities Week” as part of the programme, with thousands of businesses across the country talking part, which will increase the sale of domestic products at stores, supermarkets and trade centres by offering consumers a wide range of promotions and discounts accompanied with cultural activities, he said.
Director of the ministry’s Domestic Market Department, Hoang Tho Xuan, confirmed the need to develop the domestic market, citing the nation’s slow export growth due to adverse impacts of the ongoing global financial crisis.
Xuan said the programme will concentrate on conducting market surveys, promoting and transporting domestically produced goods to rural areas, industrial zones and major urban centres, and running advertising campaigns to promote Vietnamese products.
According to the official, promoting the sale of locally-produced goods in rural areas is considered an essential part of the government’s overall plan to stimulate demand.
This solution will be taken both in the short-term and the long-term to improve the competitive edge of Vietnamese businesses and products, and eradicate fake and poor-quality goods from rural areas, as the rural consumer holds a great deal of potential, Xuan added.
While voicing support for the programme, representatives from a number of sectors and industries pledged to work with the MoIT to implement the plan effectively.
However, Chairman of the Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association (Vinastas) Ho Tat Thang suggested that policies to protect customers should be adopted alongside measures to support businesses.
Luu Duy Dan, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Craft Villages, underlined the necessity to devise a strategy to zone off certain areas to serve domestic production.
Statistics released by the MoIT show that growth in the domestic market’s trade value has doubled the country’s GDP growth rate in recent years. In 2008, the domestic market posted around 60 billion USD in revenue, equivalent to the nation’s export turnover.
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