International trade promotion tends to combine more deeply between traditional and modern methods. Trade promotion units and Vietnamese enterprises have increased the application of e-commerce and digital transformation in trade promotion to connect effectively with foreign businesses. International trade promotion activities also promote the use of online platforms, especially social networks, to organise trade fairs and conferences.

Tran Tuan Minh, director, Vietnam-ASEAN Trade and Investment Promotion Centre

The notable point here is that international trade promotion has been implemented in a more proactive way, and Vietnamese businesses use platforms, especially in international e-commerce, to promote export of Vietnamese goods instead of simply using domestic platforms like before.

Conferences, seminars, and exhibitions for online trade have been organised by promotion units with more frequency, and businesses have also become aware of the benefits and gradually become accustomed to using online trade support tools such as trading software, online booths, and virtual exhibitions.

Besides digital transformation, the green transition is also actively and widely deployed in international trade promotion activities. Workshops, conferences with topics related to green transformation were regularly organised in 2024 to support businesses that can qualify for exporting to demanding markets such as Europe and America, as well as promoting production and developing foreign trade sustainably.

In the context of slow economic growth, trade promotion units have combined with businesses to focus on expanding import and export markets in the direction of diversifying target markets, along with exploiting deeper existing markets.

Besides promoting the focus on exploiting traditional markets such as the US, EU, Japan, and South Korea, as well as taking care of and retaining existing customers and partners, units also spend a lot of resources to further exploit markets such as Latin America, Oceania, and the Halal market. Many companies and units focus deeply on exploiting the market of one country, instead of focusing on a region with many nations or spread out on too large a scale as before.

In 2024, large-scale international trade promotion activities at national and international levels were strongly deployed, especially in strong export industries and fields in Vietnam’s key export markets. The notable point is that these activities had the very active participation of our party and state leaders through diplomatic activities.

Components participating in international trade promotion activities are increasingly larger and diverse in type (trading companies, logistics service companies, and individuals) compared to previous years. Units participating in international trade promotion activities not only play the role of connecting buyers and sellers but also accompany both in consulting and providing financial and logistics solutions suitable for each specific order.

In the current difficult situation, in addition to coordinating with outside international trade promotion businesses, each business focuses on its own trade promotion activities.

Activities to improve trade promotion capacity for industry associations and the business community have also had many new features in recent times. In addition to making good use of resources and support from international partners in technical support programmes, trade promotion units themselves have also invested heavily in order to ensure qualified personnel to deploy international trade promotion activities.

These innovations have had a strong impact, and international trade in 2024 achieved positive results. The total import and export turnover of goods in 2024 is estimated to reach $783 billion, up from $681 billion reaped in 2023. Of which, exports increased by 13.6 per cent, imports climbed by 13.5 per cent, and the trade surplus was $23 billion. The notable point is that the domestic economic sector has strong growth, with a much higher growth rate than the foreign direct investment sector.

The combination of traditional and modern methods and tools, as well as digital transformation and green transformation applications, help businesses, especially small- and medium-sized ones, increase the efficiency of trade promotion and international trade activities, improving competitiveness while aiming for sustainable development for businesses in general and in international trade activities between Vietnam and other countries.

International trade promotion activities following the aforementioned broad and deep market development orientation, combined with balancing resources when actually deploying, will help businesses maximise the advantages in their existing market and minimise risks when the international market has adverse fluctuations.

In the past year, in addition to good operating results, only a few big legal disputes between Vietnamese businesses and international partners have occurred.

With 2025 set to face various issues, international trade promotion activities need to have more and more innovations to help businesses survive and grow. However, with cooperation across the board, international trade promotion activities are highly evaluated that can support Vietnam’s economy to reach and exceed the targets set in the near future.