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Local sales push pays off
A week of Vietnamese Products, stimulus discounts at shops and top quality products trade fair with 1,000 exhibitors last week are just some of the outcomes of the Government’s domestic promotion programme.
The programme also aims to help the sale of Vietnamese products in rural areas where 70 percent of the 86 million Vietnamese live, producing up to 26.5 percent of the country’s GDP, said Domestic Market Policy Department head Hoang Tho Xuan.
The 2009 Domestic Promotions Programme was launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to sell products to farmers and workers in industrial zones in order to increase the sales of domestic products, including handicrafts.
Vinatexmart director Nguyen Thi Hong Huong said that while urban consumption seemed to have waned, Vinatexmart had discovered a big potential in the rural market. She cited the revenue of VND70 million for a one-day fair in the southern province of Long An, saying it was much better than what they would make in a city.
The ministry plans to issue shopping vouchers for poor households so they can buy essential domestic products such as food and clothes.
It also assists farmers to buy industrial products such as TVs, bicycles and motorbikes under hire-purchase with no or low interest rates.
Also under the programme, the ministry will survey the market to provide businesses with more accurate information on consumer tastes, distribution networks and development trends.
The programme includes conferences and seminars where firms can share their experiences and seek out partners.
Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of a high quality Vietnamese products club, applauded such activities, saying that conducting surveys was too expensive for many medium and small enterprises but is very necessary when preparing a business plan.
Bui Duy Duc, general director of the company Vissan Limited, said that rural people had become more attracted by trademarks and quality rather than just cheap prices. He said rural markets should not only be thought of as a destination for low-quality or out-of-date products. Rural people often preferred quality and durable products and would often turn their backs on businesses offering cheaply made products.
Xuan said the programme would widen the retail network in the countryside and keep it sustainable.
Last year, the turnover in the domestic market stood at nearly US$60 billion, he said.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises had proved their worth in the domestic market during the economic crisis, according to some first-term business reports.
vov, vietnamnews
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