Industry and Trade Sector: Business Support in Focus

In 2016, the Lam Dong Department of Industry and Trade managed to perform its tasks in the face of mounting difficulties and challenges. However, with the efforts of the industry and trade sector and business community, the sector achieved encouraging results. Supporting enterprises to deal with difficulties, obstacles and facilitating them to stabilise and develop production and business operations is the central task of the industry and trade sector.

In the year, the Lam Dong Department of Industry and Trade actively deployed major tasks and solutions to effectively implement industrial and trade development plans; continued to support businesses to actively tap local resources for production and export and expand the market. To intensify trade promotion activities, to create a bridge for enterprises to expand trade and seek partners, the industry and trade sector organised and participated in conferences on supply-demand and trade promotion such as the conference business matching for companies in Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces (held in Binh Thuan); the conference on supply - demand connectivity for specific products of Lam Dong into distribution networks in Phu Yen and central provinces; and the conference on supply and demand connection in Ho Chi Minh City. Through these conferences, many Lam Dong businesses have the opportunity to understand and grasp market needs to adjust production and business plans and scales.

In the current information boom, using electronic marketing channels is playing an increasingly important position and the Department of Industry and Trade therefore actively supported enterprises to carry out internet-based business affairs via its informational portal and achieved good results. “Enterprises should also take advantage of this method to better promote their marketing," said Huynh Ngoc Hai, Director of the Lam Dong provincial Department of Industry and Trade .

In industrial production, the industry and trade sector supported the pilot deployment of post-harvest centre model in the province; coordinated with the Department of Finance and Da Lat Customs Sub-department to carry out import procedures, reduce import duties for agricultural machines and grading systems funded by JICA (Japan) to Lam Dong province to pilot at Phong Thuy Production and Trading Co., Ltd. Moreover, to support local enterprises, the industry and trade sector implemented many solutions, e.g. opening “Proud of Vietnamese goods” sales points where only Vietnamese companies are sold with clearly tagged prices, speeding up communication on public administration reform to citizens and businesses by contacting them when they come to handle administrative procedures, publicly post administrative procedures at single-window divisions, applying single-window mechanism, speeding up the application of ISO 9001-2008 quality management systems, renovating and enhancing information technology to State management, particularly in handling administrative procedures. For the time being, administrative procedures at the Department of Industry and Trade of Lam Dong count to 96, of which 94 are carried out in the single-window mechanism. One procedure is being applied at Level 4 (class of online procedure settlement), 33 procedures are applied at Level 3 and the rest at Level 2.

Defining that supporting business development and active international economic integration was a key task, in 2016, the Department of Industry and Trade organised seven training courses on international integration for over 500 trainees who came from companies and business associations in the province, with contents related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the European Union (EU), e-commerce, commitments in agriculture, and new-generation free trade agreements to which Vietnam is a party. It also helped raise the tourism competitiveness to catch the interest of more tourists in the integrating era. In addition, in order to help enterprises sharpen their competitiveness, the Department of Industry and Trade actively assisted them in technological innovation, equipment investment and industrial promotion training.

With many positive moves and efforts to utilise advantages and overcome difficulties, the industrial production value of Lam Dong province reached VND12,261.2 billion in 2016, up 8.1 per cent over 2015. Total retail revenue of goods and services amounted VND36,163 billion, up 9.89 per cent; and total export turnover topped US$455 million, up 11.25 per cent. From local stable industrial, trade and service development, many enterprises achieved optimistic business results, contributed positively to local State Budget, and participated in social and community development activities.

Mr Hai said, “It is extremely important that, businesses in Lam Dong province have gradually changed themselves in a positive manner. They not only renovated their production processes, eyed middle-class and upper-class markets, focused on product quality and distinction. This has made Lam Dong products well-known to both domestic and foreign consumers, including vegetables, flowers and coffee.”

In 2017, the Department of Industry and Trade has striven to achieve industrial production value of VND13,332.83 billion, up 8.74 per cent year on year; total retail sales of goods and services of VND40 trillion, up 10.61 per cent; and export turnover of US$550 million, up 20.88 per cent. He said that, to realise these targets, the industry and trade sector defines that supporting enterprises to stabilise and develop their business is a core task.

Hoang Lam