Trade Promotion Bears Fruits in Mekong Delta

Trade Promotion Bears Fruits in Mekong Delta

Trade promotion activities in the Mekong Delta have seen many good results over the past years and the awareness of the importance of such activities has also been improved.

Together with national trade promotion programmes and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), nine out of 13 Mekong Delta provinces have set up trade promotion centres, which have actively supported business and production activities of local enterprises, especially the Kien Giang Trade Promotion Centre (KITRA), the An Giang Trade Promotion Centre (ATPC), and others of Dong Thap, Ca Mau, and Vinh Long provinces.

In terms of exhibitions and fairs, the local centres have tried their utmost to urge and assist enterprises to participate in domestic and international fairs, and have successfully organised fairs. The "Mekong Trade Fair 2004" and the Mekong Delta Fruit Festival at the Vinh Long Trade Promotion Centre, the "Vietnamese High-quality Goods Fair" at the ATPC, and the "Ca Mau Job and Trade Fair 2004" in the Ca Mau Trade Promotion Centre were all a success.

VCCI and the centres have also regularly held training courses for enterprises in business management skills, import and export procedures, and finance and accounting, partly contributing to the improvement in the operations of enterprises. VCCI's Can Tho Branch and the local trade promotion centres have held a series of conferences and seminars to gather ideas for the State's legal system and the developing local economy, and provide business information to help enterprises catch up with the latest market information.  

One of the biggest tasks in trade promotion is to make links and investigate foreign markets, particularly the key partners of the US, China, Japan and the European Union. However, few enterprises have engaged in market survey delegations abroad due to high costs. Apart from organising conferences on introducing investment opportunities, economic potential and investment incentives in the Mekong Delta, the local centres have introduced lists of projects calling for investment and directly contacted consultancy companies to lure investment to the region.
Trade promotion programmes in recent years have strongly developed trademarks of Vietnamese products and improved the competitiveness of Vietnam's enterprises through a close cooperation between national trade promotion associations, VCCI, the Club of Vietnamese high-quality goods and the Vietnam Internet Centre.

The number of trade promotion centres in localities has increased to 47 and the centres have conducted about 300 national trade promotions, excluding local-level ones, to support enterprises.

• Ngoc Trang