Ben Tre earmarks over 2.19 million USD for trade promotion activities

 Visitors look at products made from coconut at a trade fair in Ben Tre Province.(Photo: baodongkhoi.vn)

Ben Tre (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is expected to outlay more than 50 billion VND (2.19 million USD) for trade promotion activities from now to the end of 2025 under a programme recently approved by its provincial authorities, according to Nguyen Minh Canh, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.

The trade promotion programme for 2021-2025 period aims to encourage and facilitate enterprises of all economic sectors that are engaged in producing commodities to invest in product development, expand the consumption market as well as support the campaign "Vietnamese people prioritise using Vietnamese goods", he said.

The province will focus on assisting One Commune One Products (OCOP), specialty and key products of the province. It will maintain and expand the distribution network, developing production, improving the products’ competitiveness, affirming their brands, and promoting exports and sustainable development in the context of international integration.

The vice chairman said Ben Tre has set the target to support more than 2,000 businesses seeking consumption markets through trade promotion activities, especially e-commerce applications.

The province will organise from five to ten exhibitions and 20 meetings to connect the province’s businesses and distributors, supermarkets, and wholesale traders from provinces and cities across the country, he said.

Communication campaigns will also be launched to raise people’s awareness about goods and services in the province. 

Every year, the provincial Department of Industry and Trade will facilitate businesses to take part in regional and international trade fairs and exhibitions where they can display and introduce OCOP products, specialty, handicrafts, and farm produce, Canh said.

According to the department, the programme will be applied to units in charge of implementing its trade promotion projects, trade promotion organisations in and outside the province. Enterprises engaged in the production and trading of products certified under the OCOP programme, typical rural industrial products at provincial and national levels, and the specialty of the province will also be included.

The province invested 31.5 billion VND (1.37 million USD) in trade promotion activities in the 2016-2020 period, resulting in a growth of 11.7 percent in the trade sector and an increase of 16.31 percent of export turnover per year./.