Local companies must seek new export markets and improve productquality to raise overall export growth, experts recommended at a seminarheld in HCM City on Sept. 22.
Co-organised by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam(BIDV), the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Vietnam Chamberof Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the seminar was held to assess thecurrent export situation in the country and propose measures to boostexport in the coming time.
Pham Quang Tung, deputy generaldirector of BIDV, said despite facing many difficulties, the countryhad achieved growth in exports in the first eight months of the year.
Exports reached an estimated 60.8 billion USD, up 33.7 percent over thesame period last year, and exports of many products, includingagricultural, forestry and fishery, had increased strongly.
However, the country mainly exports raw and pre-processed products with low added value.
The number of exports of products made with high technology was much lower than that of China and other ASEAN countries.
Higher export growth of the past was mainly due to higher prices, he added.
Delegates at the meeting agreed that multiple challenges lie ahead forthe export sector because of import barriers set by other countries andcompetition among other exporters in price and quality.
DoThang Hai, director of the MIT's Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, saidthat the crisis in Egypt and the EU would continue to affect the restof the world, including Viet Nam .
Some importingcountries have been inclined to increase applications of new tradebarriers, while large import markets had increasingly required higherproduct quality and adherence to food safety and environmentalregulations, Hai said.
They also agreed that Vietnameseproducts' competitive advantage of low prices would gradually disappearbecause exporters in other countries had also focused more on cuttingprices to raise competitiveness.
In addition, the currenthigh interest rates and difficulties in accessing capital from bankshave caused difficulties for businesses to develop, Uong Tien Thinh,executive director of the Vietnam Garment and Textile Group, said.
Hai said in the current situation enterprises should look to newmarkets, especially in eastern, western and southern Asia, the MiddleEast and Latin America .
"Companies should also takeadvantage of free trade agreements and preferential tariffs under theASEAN Free Trade Area to boost exports, especially to China andJapan ," he said.
He also suggested that companiesstrengthen market research and forecasting so they can make productsthat meet consumer demand and improve product quality to avoid exportrisks.
"Despite financial difficulties, local firms shouldinvest more in trade promotion programmes to market their products inother countries," he said.
Vu Tien Loc, VCCI Chairman, said the country should work to raise competitiveness of the economy and enterprises.
"The period of boosting exports at any cost has ended," he said. "Wemust think of exporting high value-added products or advanced processedgoods."
Hai said the MIT had submitted to the Governmentan export strategy until 2020, with a focus on reducing exports of rawproducts while raising exports of high value-added ones.
The country also plans to pay more attention to developing its supportindustry and to set up Vietnamese trade promotion offices in provincesof China and other countries to provide market information forVietnamese firms, he said.
Enterprises at the meetingcalled on the Government to have a long-term, stable macro-economicpolicy and a suitable foreign exchange policy that would facilitatetheir operations./.
Co-organised by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam(BIDV), the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Vietnam Chamberof Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the seminar was held to assess thecurrent export situation in the country and propose measures to boostexport in the coming time.
Pham Quang Tung, deputy generaldirector of BIDV, said despite facing many difficulties, the countryhad achieved growth in exports in the first eight months of the year.
Exports reached an estimated 60.8 billion USD, up 33.7 percent over thesame period last year, and exports of many products, includingagricultural, forestry and fishery, had increased strongly.
However, the country mainly exports raw and pre-processed products with low added value.
The number of exports of products made with high technology was much lower than that of China and other ASEAN countries.
Higher export growth of the past was mainly due to higher prices, he added.
Delegates at the meeting agreed that multiple challenges lie ahead forthe export sector because of import barriers set by other countries andcompetition among other exporters in price and quality.
DoThang Hai, director of the MIT's Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, saidthat the crisis in Egypt and the EU would continue to affect the restof the world, including Viet Nam .
Some importingcountries have been inclined to increase applications of new tradebarriers, while large import markets had increasingly required higherproduct quality and adherence to food safety and environmentalregulations, Hai said.
They also agreed that Vietnameseproducts' competitive advantage of low prices would gradually disappearbecause exporters in other countries had also focused more on cuttingprices to raise competitiveness.
In addition, the currenthigh interest rates and difficulties in accessing capital from bankshave caused difficulties for businesses to develop, Uong Tien Thinh,executive director of the Vietnam Garment and Textile Group, said.
Hai said in the current situation enterprises should look to newmarkets, especially in eastern, western and southern Asia, the MiddleEast and Latin America .
"Companies should also takeadvantage of free trade agreements and preferential tariffs under theASEAN Free Trade Area to boost exports, especially to China andJapan ," he said.
He also suggested that companiesstrengthen market research and forecasting so they can make productsthat meet consumer demand and improve product quality to avoid exportrisks.
"Despite financial difficulties, local firms shouldinvest more in trade promotion programmes to market their products inother countries," he said.
Vu Tien Loc, VCCI Chairman, said the country should work to raise competitiveness of the economy and enterprises.
"The period of boosting exports at any cost has ended," he said. "Wemust think of exporting high value-added products or advanced processedgoods."
Hai said the MIT had submitted to the Governmentan export strategy until 2020, with a focus on reducing exports of rawproducts while raising exports of high value-added ones.
The country also plans to pay more attention to developing its supportindustry and to set up Vietnamese trade promotion offices in provincesof China and other countries to provide market information forVietnamese firms, he said.
Enterprises at the meetingcalled on the Government to have a long-term, stable macro-economicpolicy and a suitable foreign exchange policy that would facilitatetheir operations./.
