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Trade promotion key to higher exports
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has worked out a plan to step up national trade promotion programmes to expand export markets.
Under a draft amendment to Decision No 279/2005/QD-TTg, which set forth national trade promotion programmes for 2006-10, spending on trade promotion programmes would be increased and the content of programmes expanded.
The nation’s export value had been increasing annually but expenditures on trade promotion remained comparatively level, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien.
Less and less money had been available for trade promotion, Bien said, and the form and content of trade promotion efforts had been limited.
The State had so far approved a total budget of VND128 billion for national trade promotion programmes, he said, adding that the amount was now expected to climb to VND160 billion for this year, doubling last year’s figures.
The increased expenditures would allow for more trade promotion programmes and give enterprises greater opportunities to find new export markets during the global economic crisis, Bien said.
Under the draft regulations, some provinces and cities would receive support from national trade promotion programmes if they have suitable export products to promote with potential to find new markets.
Nguyen Van Thu, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Tea Association, said enterprises in the tea industry had made effective use of national trade promotion programmes to increase their exports, stressing that additional efforts would enable further outreach to new markets.
Vietnamese tea exporters had had to pay tens of thousands of US dollars buying market information, Thu said, but the information was not always up-to-date.
Hoang Vinh Tuan, director of Thai Hoa Coffee Co, said coffee exporters needed official support in collecting accurate market information to counteract declining exports during the global economic crisis.
Tran Van Thang, deputy director of Nam Thuan Garment Ltd Co based in the northern port city of Hai Phong, said more accurate market information, including information about potential trade partners, would help enterprises better plan export strategies.
Bien admitted that the ministry had many points for providing business information, including trade offices in 55 countries, a foreign market department, a trade promotion agency and trade information centres, but the quality of information was often poor.
He assured that the ministry would closely manage programmes to ensure effective use of State budget funds and, this year, would pay greater attention to the needs of enterprises, such as that for update information on market prices for certain goods.
In its draft regulation, the ministry had also suggested that the State permit enterprises to invite foreign partners to participate in trade fairs in Viet Nam, Bien said.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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