The Vietnam International Agricultural Fair held annually in Can Tho City is an important highlight to promote trade promotion activities for local, national and international enterprises in agricultural production and trade. In the photo: Agricultural machinery exhibition area of Bui Van Ngo Enterprise at the fair.
Catch up with development trends
Over the past 25 years of establishment and development, the Trade Promotion Agency has performed well its role of advising on policy mechanisms and state management of trade promotion and branding for the Ministry of Industry and Trade through the periods. Up to now, trade promotion and branding activities have been systematically regulated in the Law on Commerce, the Law on Foreign Trade Management, Government Decrees, and Prime Minister's Decisions. Thereby, it has created a transparent mechanism, creating incentives for organizations and enterprises in the economy to actively organize trade promotion activities, helping to connect and expand export markets and develop the domestic market.
In addition, the Department of Trade Promotion has actively presided over and coordinated with units and organizations in the economy to directly implement trade promotion activities and events, promote national and international brands such as organizing specialized and multi-industry international fairs and exhibitions in the country, organizing national pavilions at international fairs and exhibitions around the world, and trade conferences within the framework of working trips of Party and State leaders abroad.
In 2024, international cooperation activities will continue to be actively implemented by the Department of Trade Promotion with many activities to promote cooperation, establish and promote relations with international trade promotion organizations and foreign trade promotion agencies to serve as a foundation for promoting trade between Vietnam and partner countries and supporting Vietnamese enterprises in finding partners, penetrating and expanding markets.
The work of promoting and developing national brands and product brands with geographical indications for potential export products of Vietnam has been implemented by the Department of Trade Promotion with many specific activities within the framework of the Vietnam National Brand Program and the Program to support the registration of protection of trademarks and geographical indications for potential export products of Vietnam abroad. In addition, the Department of Trade Promotion also focuses on promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in trade promotion work; organizing activities to improve the capacity to implement trade promotion activities on digital platforms for localities, enterprises, and cooperatives; supporting the promotion and introduction of products on e-commerce platforms... These efforts have contributed to bringing Vietnam into the top 20 countries with the largest international trade scale in the world and maintaining a trade surplus over the past 10 years.
In Can Tho City, trade promotion activities have also been implemented in a diverse and flexible manner, effectively supporting businesses and industries in connecting supply and demand in the domestic market; promoting existing markets, while exploiting and expanding to find new markets. Specifically, the Can Tho Investment - Trade Promotion and Exhibition Fair Center (the Center) has supported businesses in displaying, introducing and promoting products through organizing and participating in fairs and markets in provinces and cities across the country.
Participating in promotional events in localities, the Center has organized a common booth of Can Tho City to introduce products, develop markets, connect supply and demand, and promote on-site exports of key products and OCOP products of the city. In addition, the Center also implements trade promotion activities for OCOP products of Can Tho City; Local Brand projects such as supporting the building of brands, labels, product packaging, communication activities, etc.; participating in fairs and exhibitions of OCOP products; organizing and participating in display points of OCOP products and typical products of the city in Can Tho and affiliated provinces and cities... to promote promotion to supermarkets and distributors nationwide, expand the market, etc.
Power assist
According to preliminary statistics, the trade promotion activities under the National Trade Promotion Program in 2024 supported nearly 6,000 enterprises, cooperatives, and local trade promotion organizations to participate and benefit, in which the total value of contracts signed directly at international fairs and exhibitions reached nearly 100 million USD (not including contracts signed after fairs, exhibitions, and trade), sales at regional fairs and exhibitions reached hundreds of billions of VND.
During the period 2003-2025, the Minister of Industry and Trade approved over 4,120 national trade promotion projects, thereby supporting nearly 130,000 enterprises to directly participate. Through participating in trade promotion activities, enterprises have directly transacted and signed contracts with a total export contract value of nearly 30.26 billion USD and 1,000 billion VND; the total value of contracts for the purchase and sale of goods, agents for product consumption in the domestic market and sales revenue reached nearly 3,000 billion VND.
Since 2003, programs and activities on brand development, of which the core is the National Brand Program, have been promoted by the Department of Trade Promotion in consultation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Through 9 selection periods for products achieving National Brand from 2008 to present, 861 enterprises have been honored with products achieving National Brand.
To achieve practical results in business connection, the Center participates in events, conferences, and seminars on trade promotion, and provides information to businesses participating in domestic and international events to support businesses in expanding their markets and finding partners. In addition to direct trade connection activities, the Center also practices trade connection through supporting businesses in applying digital platforms, especially large, reputable platforms with high market and partner connection effects such as Alibaba, Tiktok, etc.
The Center focuses on providing timely information to businesses on policies, regulations, trends, needs and market and industry opportunities through various forms such as attending and inviting businesses to attend a series of trade promotion conferences with the Vietnamese Trade Office system abroad on a monthly basis; providing updated information on the foreign market situation, recommendations in trade promotion that agencies, organizations and businesses need to pay attention to.
The Center invites businesses to participate in export market consultation sessions organized by the Department of Trade Promotion; attend events, conferences, seminars, training courses on trade promotion, and introduce export market opportunities from many large and small markets of Vietnam. In particular, focusing on markets with free trade agreements with Vietnam so that businesses can quickly take advantage of incentives from these agreements to enhance their advantages and competitiveness; at the same time, provide information to businesses attending domestic and foreign events to support businesses in expanding their markets and finding partners, etc.
Regarding the development orientation in the coming time, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department, said that in the coming time, the Trade Promotion Department will continue to promote its role as a strategic advisory body for the Minister in perfecting mechanisms and policies on trade promotion, branding and investment promotion for industrial and trade development. At the same time, it will promote the understanding of market trends, improve the quality of technical support for localities, associations, enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises, to effectively exploit markets with new-generation free trade agreements as well as potential markets that are still open; strongly develop digital trade promotion and green trade.
In addition to export promotion, according to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, the Trade Promotion Agency clearly identifies the important role of supporting the promotion of technology imports and promoting investment abroad, in order to anticipate core technology trends, increase added value and increase initiative in the process of industrialization and modernization of the country. Proactively develop training plans to improve the capacity of staff; continue to improve the organization in the direction of streamlining, effectiveness, efficiency, and adapting to the new development environment.
Article and photos: KHANH NAM
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/-canh-tay-noi-dai-cho-hoat-dong-giao-thuong-a188521.html
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