Trade promotion makes great strides in adapting to COVID-19
VOV.VN - The country’s trade promotion activities must continue to be promoted across many localities nationwide, thereby creating positive effects in attracting investment and bolstering exports amid the challenging impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2020, the spread of the pandemic has seriously affected production, business, and investment activities across the globe, disrupting supply chains and international trade in the process.
In order to support and enhance connectivity among various localities with export potential and those striving to attract foreign investment in the field of industry and commerce, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade has co-ordinated efforts with local departments of industry. This has been done in order to hold an array of conferences and programmes which aim to connecting provinces and localities with foreign diplomatic agencies based in the nation.
The successful organisation of these trade promotion conferences has received plenty of positive feedback from numerous locally-based embassies, consulates General, and foreign trade promotion organisations, as well as provincial people's committees and local businesses.
This year has seen trade promotion activities face increasing difficulties due to the impact of the pandemic, thus forcing VIETRADE to switch to a new form of promotion, combining online and in-person formats (hybrid). This has therefore enabled Vietnamese businesses to remotely approach international partners in the context of the pandemic whilst still proving to be effective.
According to Vu Ba Phu, head of the VIETRADE, this year has seen over 1,000 conferences held on supply - demand connection, consumption, and export of goods via both in-person and online platforms across the country to support millions of enterprises in conducting online trading and promotion session with foreign partners.
The agency has also directly organised a number of online fairs and exhibitions in the nation for the purpose of connecting local businesses with foreign partners.
Localities seek out investment opportunities
Identifying investment attraction and export promotion can be viewed as one of the key goals of local economic development, Ngo Hanh Phuc, vice chairman of Yen Bai Provincial People's Committee, said. Indeed, recent years has seen Yen Bai adopt many mechanisms and policies which are suitable to the actual conditions of the locality in a bid to further promote investment attraction and improve the public administration reform index (PAR INDEX)
Most notably, this year has seen the province issue investment decisions and investment registration certificates for 62 projects with a total registered investment capital of VND10,378 billion.
Of the figure, 12 projects are invested in industrial parks in the province with a total registered capital of VND1,578 billion.
On the other hand, Yen Bai province is also a locality which boasts many strong export products such as mineral products including CaCo3 stone powder, insulating porcelain products, graphite, precious stones, tea, and cinnamon products.
Commenting on trade promotion activities and online investment connection, Phuc said, “this is a good opportunity for Yen Bai province to promote and introduce potential, strengths, incentive mechanisms and policies for investment, especially during the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The vice chairman of the Yen Bai Provincial People's Committee went on to state, “Through policy and mechanism incentives, State management agencies and local businesses are able to get more information about investors, markets, technical barriers relating to exports and the quality of goods and services.”
Concurring with this viewpoint, Huynh Minh Tuan, vice chairman of the Dong Thap provincial People's Committee, said that Dong Thap province urgently needs reputable channels to help businesses connect, consult standards to remove problems technical barriers, while helping the province catch the pulse of market trends and consumer tastes. This needs to be done in order to orient satisfactory and sustainable export products in the direction of developing indigenous resources.
Tuan also suggested that trade representatives and foreign trade promotion organisations in the country act as a bridge to help the locality promote information, support exports and call for investment projects on developing infrastructure facilities, processing agro-fishery products, and value-added agricultural products after harvest in Dong Thap province.
Vu Ba Phu, head of the VIETRADE, emphasised that the promotion of online trade promotion activities has helped Vietnamese exporters save costs, increase speed, shorten distance and time, while simultaneously boosting market access and attracting potential customers.