In recent years, to promote trade, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has established many business forums in major markets which are first joined by leading companies and then followed small and medium enterprises. Nguyen Thien Cuong, Director of International Relations Department, VCCI, said, VCCI will further professionalise trade promotion, with greater focus on supporting industry-specific businesses. Quoc Anh reports.
He said many business forums have been set up by VCCI and headed up by reputable, leading companies. Typical business forums include those between Vietnam - Africa, Vietnam - China, Vietnam - EU, Vietnam - Japan, Vietnam - United States, Vietnam - Russia, Vietnam - Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam - South Africa.
How has the business forum model that VCCI has established impacted the trade promotion activities of the business community?
I see that Vietnamese enterprises have made significant improvement in foreign investment or exportation after they join business forums. For example, we invited leaders of Viettel, a company with rich experience in doing business in Africa, to chair the Vietnam - Africa Business Forum. The support of Viettel is convincing enough for other companies with interest in this potential market. Many Vietnamese products have entered this market, including cashew nuts and rubber.
Besides, business forums help boost the confidence of foreign companies in Vietnamese enterprises. To date, most foreign business delegations to Vietnam have the recourse to VCCI to seek partners. We inform members to pick up suitable partners, thus, most meetings are very successful.
Besides, business forums are the venue for companies to raise difficulties, problems and proposals to State agencies. For example, we are helping Vietnam - US Business Forum to focus recommendations on antidumping to the Government and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.
I think business forums are supporting the business community very practically and effectively.
Will the International Relations Department have any solutions to further professionalise this activity?
We will continue to maintain and promote the operations of business forums and business councils. We will build effective coordinating mechanisms between business councils and business forums between Vietnam and other countries in the world. We focus on implementing robust and extensive activities in the framework of trade and investment relations with partner countries and regions, capturing business cooperation expectations of enterprises in target markets, and supporting Vietnamese firms to promote export to target markets.
In my opinion, to meet the requirements of the business community, trade promoters must raise the level of expertise. In the coming time, we will build expert groups for specific markets rather than general support. Trade promotion support will be decentralised to province levels and focus on specific items.
Could you please cite specific examples for this?
We will pick up some 20 key items to focus on a specific market. For example, we choose South Korea. We will discuss with business associations, embassies, etc. to pick out key projects and then invite executive boards of business forums to find Vietnamese companies expecting to do business with South Korea to provide basic knowledge and skills on working with South Korean partners.
Besides, trade promotion (market survey, trade fair, business matchmaking, conference, meeting with businesses, etc.) must be performed professionally and qualitatively to meet the diverse demand of enterprises, boost the prestige and image of Vietnamese investment and business environment, as well as the prestige of VCCI as an organiser.
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