|
City conference aims to curb low-quality imports
The lack of technical barriers to prevent low and dubious quality imports was hurting the local economy, a conference in HCM City heard yesterday.
Dr. Tran Dinh Thien from the Viet Nam Institute of Economics told the conference such low and spurious quality products were mainly from China and not seen in other countries that neighbour Viet Nam, like Thailand.
Participants at the conference identified several other shortcomings that need to be addressed in order to prevent the inflow of such goods and replace them with Vietnamese products in local markets.
They stressed the need for a clearly defined strategy for cross border trading development, raising the competitiveness of domestically made goods, strengthening the legal framework against smuggling and other illegal practices and improving quality control mechanisms.
Thien said from the late 80s onwards, China had set clear policies to develop its cross border trade.
This has not happened in Viet Nam, which, until now, did not have a suitable strategy for economic development of border areas, he said, adding that this has resulted in the country losing several benefits that cross border trade can bring.
"The Government needs to define long-term targets for cross border trade development to have appropriate policies to develop the economy in border areas," he said.
The Government must co-operate and offer more support to enterprises in the fight against smuggled goods and mobilise the mass media and people to consume local and legally imported goods.
Thien also called for stricter regulations on product quality requirements and for closer co-operation between concerned agencies to more effectively fight smuggling.
Local manufacturers should pay more attention to improving their product quality and models, and also to cutting costs and prices to increase their competitiveness.
He also urged them to establish links with foreign investment companies in order to develop local industry.
Do Long, chairman of the Binh Tan Investment Joint Stock Company, said complicated administrative procedures, high transportation costs and a lack of co-operation among local enterprises had reduced the competitiveness of local enterprises.
He suggested the Government focus more on developing infrastructure to help enterprises lower transportation costs and facilitate supply of goods to rural areas.
He agreed with Thien that local enterprises should develop their product quality, brands and distribution systems to increase their shares in the domestic market.
Nguyen Dinh Quoc, chairman of Dinh Quoc Glass Company, said to compete with cheap and low-quality imports, his company invested in producing new model of glass with high quality and reasonable prices, and this product was doing very well in the market.
Yesterday’s conference was organised by the HCM City Young Businesspeople Association.
vietnamnews
|
