Attempts to attract international visitors

HCMC, February 22, 2023, Ho Chi Minh Export Furniture Fair - HawaExpo 2023’s grand opening was officially held at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center - SECC (District 7 of HCMC). With over 200 manufacturers and exporters, 1600 booths and a 28000 sqm exhibition area, the fair is set to become a very special gathering of the local industry after the hindrances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Nguyen Liem, Chairman of Binh Duong Furniture Association (BIFA) and Founder of Lam Viet Furniture JSC, said he felt deeply touched upon attending this HawaExpo, despite having participated in many similar domestic and international fairs. To him, the primary reason is the unique situation in which HawaExpo takes place: the industry, although growing, is lacking new orders. In the meantime, strengths amongst local businesses have been enhanced thanks to serious reforms and investments in response to the pandemic. “Despite widespread inflation in the major markets, the international demands for Vietnamese wood products remain very high, to which local businesses have responded to a very small portion. If the customer strategies and market expansions are well executed, the potential for growth is high. This is the very reason why HawaExpo set its mission to enhance the industry’s promotion activities,” said Mr. Liem.

To realize the mission, in addition to unifying the strengths of the major manufacturers and exporters operating in indoor, outdoor, office, project, gift, handicraft, wooden house, raw materials, accessories as well as creative designs amongst the furniture ecosystem, organizers of HawaExpo 2023 are making efforts to attract the attendance of customers from both traditional and prospective markets. Such efforts, which range from airport pickup to hotel bookings, from transportation to expo site to factory visits, from culinary demands to entertainment requests, are well orchestrated to cater to the visiting buyers. HAWA Chairman and HawaExpo 2023 Chief Organizer, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, supposed that it is how things are done in developed, industrial countries. “We provide the best conditions for international visitors, thus opening opportunities for local enterprises to approach their potential customers,” said Mr. Khanh.

According to him, a grand scale, methodical fair always starts with master planning and partner selection, its message best conveyed and consistently to all participating enterprises for the most careful and uniform preparation. Presented with the theme “Growth Through Diversification”, visitors will witness a spectacular and highly diverse showcase of all participating enterprises at HawaExpo. In the opening day alone, over 1000 businesses and partners have paid their visit

Digitizing trade promotion

Squarely occupying the two SECC’s grand halls, HawaExpo 2023 gathers Vietnam’s largest export manufacturers. Every booth is unique in its own space design, richly and unexpectedly colorful, youthful, with “made in Vietnam'' trademark. In the trend of discouraged spending due to inflation, many customers will place greater demand upon quality as well as design uniqueness. Businesses with great investment on product design and development will likely attract international buyers,” said Mr. Nguyen Phuong, Merchandize Minh Thanh Co., Ltd.

According to him, besides developing new products, local enterprises need to invest on sales and business development while proactively joining both domestic and international fairs to gain access to new markets. HawaExpo 2023 is expertly  and seriously invested from organizing, showcasing to sourcing for major brand names. Concurrently, with the support from Vietnamese Trade agencies in foreign countries, the fair attracts international delegations, co-hosting business matching sessions between Vietnam and potential markets such as Canada, United Kingdom, Middle East. The efforts as such have truly created an ideal avenue for the businesses in the industry.

Above all is the investment of technology on the organizing process. Automatic, smart check-in adopted by HawaExpo helps significantly to reduce the congestion at registration, which has always been an issue for every organizer. The fair also marks the very first time a mobile application is developed to fully support a wood and furniture fair in Vietnam. Across all mobile platforms, with the HawaExpo application, visitors can view the exhibition map, look up information and connect with interested partners, book appointments and contact organizers to request service. Application users can also experience HawaExpo online, digitally reconstructed upon visiting HOPE (www.hopefair.com). “HawaExpo 2023 is expected to present a completely different approach in the industry’s trade promotion while playing an important and practical role while bringing more opportunities for the enterprises as well as for the overall industry growth in the near future,” commented Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

Taking place from Feb 22 to 25, the fair is expected to welcome 10,000 domestic and international visitors. In addition to being physically present at the expo site, from Feb 25 to 28, HawaExpo Organizers will launch factory visits reserved for international buyers to better and more directly approach and assess the scales of large manufacturing plants in HCMC and its vicinity.