HCMC Expo 2009: An Effective Export Promotion Channel

The Ho Chi Minh City International Furniture and Handicraft Fair (HCMC Expo) is an annual trade promotion event of the Vietnamese wood export processing industry. The trade fair draws special interest and active participation of woodwork and handicraft enterprises in Vietnam and foreign companies. HCMC Expo gathers leading woodwork and handicraft producers and traders in Vietnam, attracts international businesspeople to visit, study and sign contracts, and set up business cooperation ties with Vietnamese partners. With numerous opportunities, this annual event has actually become a bridge for Vietnamese woodwork exporters to connect with foreign importers, for material and machine suppliers to approach Vietnamese producers and for producers to contact designers.

 

For years, HCMC Expo has become a reliable venue for woodwork and handicraft companies in the world. Many international woodwork and handicraft suppliers and importers choose HCMC Expo as their top destinations every year. With its continuous successes through annual trade fairs, HCMC Expo has created a great resound on the global woodwork market as more and more foreign importers come this trade fair to purchase goods and survey capacities of Vietnamese companies. Without much knowledge of capacity and level of the Vietnamese wood industry, visitors will find the most exact and concrete answer at the trade fair. With such importance, HCMC Expo has been added to the list of annual international trade fairs and is the largest event of the Vietnamese wood processing industry when woodwork has become a key export of the country.

 

After six trade fairs, HCMC Expo has attracted strong attention of domestic and foreign woodwork and handicraft companies. This is also the most prestigious trade fair of the Vietnamese wood industry.

The seventh HCMC Expo 2009 is set to be opened at the Ho Chi Minh City International Exhibition and Convention Centre (HIECC) at 446 Hoang Van Thu Street, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City from October 6 to 10, 2009. This is aimed to facilitate Vietnamese woodwork and handicraft producers and traders to introduce their products and foreign importers to visit, sign contracts and set up business cooperative ties. This trade fair, a part of the national trade promotion programme, is guided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee and is co-organised by the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency.

 

Mr. Tran Vinh Nhung, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, said: This year’s trade fair is aimed to encourage and facilitate enterprises to expand and seek new markets and adopt new business approaches. Under the plan, representatives from ASEAN Trade Promotion Agency will come to exchange information with exhibitors and the Sourcing Centre, a trade promotion unit at the trade fair, will connect all sourcing requirements at the show and also export trading opportunities.

 

Besides, the “Online trade show” will give all exhibitors online booths at www.tradeshow.com.vn to promote their business and trade effectively. Unlike the physical trade fair, the online trade show is not subjected to limitations of time and space (open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year). By visiting the online trade fair, customers from any corner in the world can approach, select, transact and trade with online exhibitors in the most convenient and economical way. to promote their business and trade effectively. Unlike the physical trade fair, the online trade show is not subjected to limitations of time and space (open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year). By visiting the online trade fair, customers from any corner in the world can approach, select, transact and trade with online exhibitors in the most convenient and economical way.

 

Besides, the organisers will select, filter and allocate booths for enterprises to grasp all possible business opportunities. Small businesses can also display their high-quality and sophisticated products at the trade show. During the event, the organisers will invite Japanese experts to consult Vietnamese enterprises on product designing and modelling, host the Sourcing Seminar for Vietnamese enterprises to meet and discuss with foreign importers and traders. The organisers will also hold the Business Matching for enterprises to obtain business opportunities at the event.

 

The HCMC Expo 2009 has the similar scale as in 2008 (with 847 booths). Until now, the organisers have stopped receiving registration applications from enterprises. In the first three days (from October 6 to 8), the trade fair is only opened for business visitors from other countries, companies and representative offices in Vietnam invited by the organisers. The fair will be opened to the public on October 9 and 10.

 

With many dynamic activities, the organisers hope the HCMC Expo 2009 will become an important export promotion channel for Vietnamese woodwork and handicraft enterprises to seek export markets for their products from the homeland instead of attending costly overseas trade fairs.

 

In recent years, the Vietnamese exported woodwork and handicraft products have been popular in many countries in the world. With presence in 163 countries and territories throughout the globe, Vietnam is the second largest woodwork exporter in the region. On the back of global economic crisis, Vietnam’s woodwork export revenues fell 15 % year on year to US$1.55 billion in the first eight months of 2009.

 

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country may earn additional US$1.14 billion in the last four months of the year to nearly complete the full-year target. In addition to maintaining traditional markets, woodwork exporters have begun seeking and penetrating new markets like Russia and the Middle East.
Gia Phuc