Vietnam 's textile and garment businesses should develop their servicecentres, especially the industry's small- and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs), participants were informed at a workshop held in Hanoi onOct. 20.
This workshop on Capacity Buildingfor Service Centres to Develop SME Cluster was part of a 3 million-EURO(4.28 million USD) development project funded by the Italian governmentand implemented by the United Nations Industrial DevelopmentOrganisation (UNIDO) and the Enterprise Development Agency (EDA) underthe Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The main objective of this project is to contribute to the sustainabledevelopment of Vietnamese SMEs: increasing their competitiveness,upgrading the quality of their products, and improving their access tointernational markets. A key approach for improving SME competitivenesswas the establishment of industry clusters, strengthening connectionsbetween businesses in order to create an environment that facilitatesinnovation and sustainable development.
In a speechdelivered at the event, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Lorenzo Angelonisaid his government had paid attention to SME cluster development withinUNIDO and believed SMEs had played an important role in the economy.
He said Vietnam should attempt to build trademarksby studying the examples of foreign countries, adding that Italy wouldbe a good partner for a middle-income country like Vietnam .
EDA's deputy director cum national project director Nguyen Trong Hieusaid the project had been implemented for nearly three years inVietnam , aiming to increase competitiveness and restructuringbusinesses.
"A service centre in the north would help textile and garment businesses meet export requirements," he said.
Patrick Gilabert, UNIDO representative in Vietnam , agreed, addingthat the centres would also meet the requirements of domestic firms fordesign, export promotion, and marketing information.
Enrico Ottolini, senior project advisor of International T&GAdvisor, said service centres would provide testing, training,technology consultation and opportunities for applied research. Theywould focus on building competence and teaching the skills needed forsector development.
"The establishment of the centreis a result of public-private consensus between local and nationalstakeholders. The centre will have private soul but a public vision," hesaid.
He added that Vietnam had stronglysupported the decision to upgrade the Textile Research Institute (TRI)as one kind of centre that would offer a wide array of services, rangingfrom product design to export promotion to waste management andpollution control.
Statistics from Vietnam T&GIndustry showed that the country has employed nearly 2 million people,with direct labourers numbering around 1.1 million. It has about 4,000enterprises with the State as a major shareholder, accounting for 77.5percent of the companies.
Export turnover this year was estimated to reach an average of 1 billion USD per month.
It also forecast that textile and garment production would move fromEast European countries to Asian ones in the next three to four years.
"It would be a good time for Indian, Bangladeshi,Pakistani, Vietnamese and Cambodian clothing manufacturers to expandproduction," he said.
He expected that the value ofthe testing market in Vietnam would soon reach 20 million USD peryear and have a market growth rate of 10 percent per year.
"Lab equipment produced by Vietnam 's organisations were thought tobe modern and accurate enough to provide reliable tests. Vietnamesetechnicians are able to perform their jobs effectively," he added.
Director of HCM City's Concetti Consultancy Centre Han Manh Tien saidthe centre must be able to interact with local companies andassociations, providing customised consultations for the development ofnew projects./.
This workshop on Capacity Buildingfor Service Centres to Develop SME Cluster was part of a 3 million-EURO(4.28 million USD) development project funded by the Italian governmentand implemented by the United Nations Industrial DevelopmentOrganisation (UNIDO) and the Enterprise Development Agency (EDA) underthe Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The main objective of this project is to contribute to the sustainabledevelopment of Vietnamese SMEs: increasing their competitiveness,upgrading the quality of their products, and improving their access tointernational markets. A key approach for improving SME competitivenesswas the establishment of industry clusters, strengthening connectionsbetween businesses in order to create an environment that facilitatesinnovation and sustainable development.
In a speechdelivered at the event, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Lorenzo Angelonisaid his government had paid attention to SME cluster development withinUNIDO and believed SMEs had played an important role in the economy.
He said Vietnam should attempt to build trademarksby studying the examples of foreign countries, adding that Italy wouldbe a good partner for a middle-income country like Vietnam .
EDA's deputy director cum national project director Nguyen Trong Hieusaid the project had been implemented for nearly three years inVietnam , aiming to increase competitiveness and restructuringbusinesses.
"A service centre in the north would help textile and garment businesses meet export requirements," he said.
Patrick Gilabert, UNIDO representative in Vietnam , agreed, addingthat the centres would also meet the requirements of domestic firms fordesign, export promotion, and marketing information.
Enrico Ottolini, senior project advisor of International T&GAdvisor, said service centres would provide testing, training,technology consultation and opportunities for applied research. Theywould focus on building competence and teaching the skills needed forsector development.
"The establishment of the centreis a result of public-private consensus between local and nationalstakeholders. The centre will have private soul but a public vision," hesaid.
He added that Vietnam had stronglysupported the decision to upgrade the Textile Research Institute (TRI)as one kind of centre that would offer a wide array of services, rangingfrom product design to export promotion to waste management andpollution control.
Statistics from Vietnam T&GIndustry showed that the country has employed nearly 2 million people,with direct labourers numbering around 1.1 million. It has about 4,000enterprises with the State as a major shareholder, accounting for 77.5percent of the companies.
Export turnover this year was estimated to reach an average of 1 billion USD per month.
It also forecast that textile and garment production would move fromEast European countries to Asian ones in the next three to four years.
"It would be a good time for Indian, Bangladeshi,Pakistani, Vietnamese and Cambodian clothing manufacturers to expandproduction," he said.
He expected that the value ofthe testing market in Vietnam would soon reach 20 million USD peryear and have a market growth rate of 10 percent per year.
"Lab equipment produced by Vietnam 's organisations were thought tobe modern and accurate enough to provide reliable tests. Vietnamesetechnicians are able to perform their jobs effectively," he added.
Director of HCM City's Concetti Consultancy Centre Han Manh Tien saidthe centre must be able to interact with local companies andassociations, providing customised consultations for the development ofnew projects./.
