Many trade promotion programs have been organized. Photo: H.Diu

Nearly 300 trade promotion activities in the country and internationally

According to Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), trade promotion has been implemented since the beginning of the year, proactively preparing the consumption market for special seasonal agricultural products to avoid congestion, the situation of good crops - price drop of agricultural products when the season comes.

For the Chinese market, to take advantage of opportunities when China has reopened to promote market exploitation for products with strengths such as agricultural products, and aquatic products, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continuously coordinate with localities and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide exporters to complete documents for official export to China in order to take advantage of effective export opportunities to this market.

Specifically, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is developing a plan to coordinate with Vietnamese ministries, branches, and relevant Chinese agencies to organize the first "Vietnam - Shanghai trade forum on official export of Vietnamese agricultural and seafood products to China via Shanghai port" scheduled for April in Hanoi. This will be an annual forum to promote economic and trade development between Vietnam and China.

Simultaneously, in 2023, a series of trade promotion activities will be implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related units. In 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued the National program on trade promotion and the National brand program with nearly 300 domestic and international trade promotion activities.

The Trade Promotion Department will focus on activities such as connecting Vietnamese businesses with international buyers; organizing major international industry conferences in Vietnam to promote Vietnam's export potential; promoting national brands, product lines, and regional specialties in foreign markets; strengthening the role of Vietnamese trade agencies in foreign countries, enhance and improve the quality of information and forecasting work; and regularly update and provide market information, import conditions and standards, and policies for each key and potential export product to support businesses and associations to access each market.

Simultaneously, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will focus on developing and implementing programs to improve green export promotion capacity for manufacturing and exporting enterprises to meet new standards of green trade, green growth and development in the world.

Besides trade promotion solutions to boost exports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade continues to direct, orient, and encourage trade promotion activities, and promote the import of modern machinery and equipment, source technology, and input materials for deep processing with high value-added content for export.

More resources

However, according to the Trade Promotion Agency, trade promotion activities are still difficult, and limit ed in resources, and the financial support mechanism for trade promotion activities has not been adjusted in a timely manner.

According to a study by the International Trade Organization (ITC) on the role of trade promotion for the exports of countries, for every US$1 spent on export promotion activities, countries can add US$87 in export value and US$384 in contribution to GDP.

In fact, budget investment for trade promotion in Vietnam has been limit ed, much lower than in other countries, and not commensurate with export growth. In 2012, the budget allocated to the National trade promotion program was VND93 billion, while the export turnover reached US$114.6 billion. Since 2020, export turnover has increased by more than 100%, export turnover in 2020, despite facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reached US$282.66 billion, reached US$336.31 billion in 2021, and reached nearly US$372 billion in 2022.

However, the funding of the National trade promotion program, although gradually increased in the following years, was stable at VND136 billion/year (about US$5.7 million).

Therefore, with the fact that the company's ability to supply goods and adapt to the market has improved, Vietnamese export goods are gradually asserting their prestige in the international market and require more investment in trade promotion to promote the image of industries, products to maintain and develop markets and export turnover.

According to the Department of Trade Promotion, it is also necessary to expand the network of trade agencies and trade promotion offices, supplement facilities and funds for the system of Vietnamese trade agencies abroad in order to strengthen the capacity of policy research and support localities, associations, and enterprises to develop export.