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Local exporters urged optimum use of stimulus package
Local businesses should take advantage of the government’s stimulus package to improve their competitiveness and boost exports in the second half of the year, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu said.
Some exporters are still hesitant to apply for subsidized loans and some are slow to renovate technologies and restructure their businesses to lower production costs and improve management, Khu said during a video meeting Wednesday.
As a result, their products are not competitive enough in the context of an economic downturn, and this has contributed to a drop of 10.1 percent in exports in the first six months, he said.
The country has to do its utmost to ship goods worth over US$37 billion in the remaining months, so that it can obtain export revenues of nearly $64.7 billion, or a growth of 3 percent over last year, he told reporters in Hanoi on the sidelines of the meeting.
Firms should also increase production to meet the economy’s demand for essential goods such as electricity, coal, fertilizer, steel and consumer products, he noted.
The deputy minister asked relevant agencies to encourage trade in the domestic market, and intensify the fight against smuggled and counterfeit products.
He said Vietnam has mapped out many trade promotion measures, but the problem is whether firms are able to take quick advantage of these.
The government has approved two national trade promotion programs worth VND128.6 billion ($7.1 million).
Addressing the meeting, chairman of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, Le Quoc An, proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade offer firms more support in implementing trade promotion programs for the Asian market.
Good prospects
An said local businesses had taken advantage of a recent trade agreement between Vietnam and Japan and boosted exports of textile and apparel products to the Japanese market.
Textile and garment exports declined by 4 percent in the European market and 5 percent in the US but jumped 20 percent in Japan in the first half, said An, adding exports to South Korea and Singapore had also increased during this period.
Nguyen Duc Thuan, chairman of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association, said footwear exports would not fall sharply in the second half as Vietnamese products are still more competitive than those from China, whose manufacturers focus on low or medium-priced shoes.
Thuan said if local businesses focus on high quality and good designs, they would achieve at least 90 percent of $4.5 billion goal set by the industry.
A representative from the Vietnam Food Association said the country could export at least 5.5 million tons of rice this year. It shipped abroad nearly 3.8 million tons of rice in the first half. As of June 30, it had over 1 million tons of the grain in stock.
Ngan Anh - Minh Quang
thanhnien
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