Accelerating Regional Export Development Plan

On September 30 in Hanoi, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), Ministry of Industry and Trade, organised a national workshop to introduce the regional export development plan. The event is to announce the results of the regional export development plan for the North, Central and South of Vietnam which was implemented from May to September, 2014.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said trade plays an increasingly important role in the national economic development and it accounts for approximately 60 percent of the GDP. The tasks are set out from 2011 to 2015 is to increase the export turnover on average by 12 percent per year, reduce the trade deficit by 2020, and balance the import and export. In fact, the import and export turnovers of Vietnam in 2013 were US$264.26 billion, up 15.7 percent, compared with 2012, of which the exports reached US$132.13 billion, up 15.3 percent, compared with 2012 and the average turnover through 3 years increased by almost US$20 billion per year. Along with the shifting of the economic structure towards the industrialization and modernization, the export structure of Vietnam has been improved by increasing the manufacturing and processing, reducing the crude exports and improving added value in exports.

 

Besides, according to Nguyen Cam Tu, along with efforts of exporters to engage more deeply into the global value chains, Vietnam is actively negotiating the free trade agreements (FTAs) with major trading partners to open their markets and create more favourable penetration for exports. These positive factors have contributed to the promotion of the exports and new projects with high exporting potential in the future, along with the main and traditional exports.

 

Miroslav Delaporte, Country Representative of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SECO) stressed that the development plan for the regional export proposes specific activities to build up capacity for trade promotion centres, and other related organisations to more effectively support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that manufacture products of export potential.

 

Regarding the regional export development plan, Mr Tu said that the plan is based on the two important activities that were implemented previously; one is to assess regional export potentials and another is to promote local trade. The main objective is to propose concrete actions to improve capacity of trade promotion centres and other related associations that support SMEs' production of potential products more efficiently. The export plan focuses on developing an action plan to promote exporting of products that are selected locally. Direct partners of this activity are trade promotion centres, associations, cooperative alliances, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and SMEs with export potential.

 

According to the plan, priority groups of products for exporting in three regions include litchi, tea, textiles, footwear, and logistic services of the North; coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, honey, tuna, handicrafts, handicraft rattan, logistics, and tourism of the Central; rice, fresh fruit, fish, garments, handicrafts, logistics and tourism of the South. For each of the export categories, the experts will build up the action plans to prioritise products that could be developed for the exports in the future.

The forming of the regional export development plan area is one of the key activities of the first phase (6/2013 - 12/2014) of the programme "Improving the export competitiveness of the small and medium enterprises of Vietnam (SMEs) through a system of local trade promotion." This is a technical assistance project, funded by the ODA grant of the Swiss government, which will be conducted for 4 years (2013-2017). The project is managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and implemented by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the national execution method.

However, it is necessary to boost exports with local advantages and invest more in the processing and build up the brands to help improve the value-added exports. In addition to boosting trade promotion, the plan also focuses on the provision of information for businesses. In the new and demanding market, the plan needs to provide information on markets, prices, technical barriers, partners, customers, and business culture to help enterprises develop appropriate strategies.

 

The catfish exports of Southwest Vietnam that account for more than 95 percent of the catfish and raw materials in the form of frozen fillets have not been involved in the retail market. In the coming time, the catfish will get stuck in the American market once the 2014 American Farm Bill is in effect. In the European market, the catfish exports of Vietnam are facing strong competition with other exports like pollock and other fishes as well as the import barriers, which reduce the reputation and image of Vietnam. The regional export development plan focuses on the communication and promotion of the catfish products of Vietnam that are environmental friendly, sustainable and beneficial to health. Besides, the plan aims to focus on developing the capacity to process and develop new products from catfish.

 

For some industries such as rattan handicraft, the government should give support for the production linkage model and establishment of a national development centre to focus on high value-added products and branding.