Businesses must devise schemes to boost exports amid COVID-19
VOV.VN - Local firms have been advised to become more flexible and consider changing which type of transportation they use when shipping goods to promote the greater production of empty containers to deal with the shortage of empty containers and the recent rise in freight rates.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Group, an enterprise that specialises in exporting agricultural products to the United States, Australia, Japan, and Canada, said his company are concerned that high freight costs by shipping lines and slow delivery to partners will impact their reputation and the overall product quality.
This comes after the recent shortage of empty containers has caused exporters to encounter plenty of difficulties when trying to meet the orders of foreign partners on time, while the lack of empty containers with a short delivery deadline is seen as contributory factor to causing shipping rates to climb higher.
Tung also emphasised that the Government needs to work alongside foreign shipping lines in order to request them to provide timely support for local export firms as a way of reducing freight costs during this challenging period.
Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Import and Export Department, urged domestic businesses to take advantage of using other forms of transport, including rail transport instead of simply using sea links to deal with the issue. Indeed, Hai believes that each enterprise must have a reserve fund and diversify their import and export markets in order to avoid reliance on a single market.
